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W. K. TWEEDIE 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



GLAD TIDINGS 



OR, 



THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. 



SERIES OF DAILY MEDITATIONS 



FOB 



CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES. 



W. K. TWEEDIE, D.D. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

BY II. L. HASTINGS. 




BOSTO 

COPYRIGHT, 1=84. 

II. L. II AST I 
SCRIPTURAL TRACT RE] 

47 CORNHILL. 




■pK 



Works by W. K. Tweedie, D.D. 

Of the Free Tolbooth Church, Edinburg. 3 vols. Uniform in size 
and style of binding. 

GLAD TIDINGS; or the Gospel of Peace. A series of meditations for 
Christian Disciples. With a preface by H. L. Hastings. 75 cts. 

A LAMP TO THE PATH: or the Word of God in the Heart, the Home, 
the Workshop and the Market-place. With an introduction by 
H. L. Hastings. 75 cts. 

SEED-TIME AND HARVEST : or Sow Well and Reap Well. A Book 
for the Young. With a preface by H. L. Hastings. 75 cts. 

*** Address all orders to H. L. BASTINGS, 47 Oornhill, Boston. 



NOXONIHSYM 



SSHHONOQ HO 



INTRODUCTION. 



The grandest event in human history was announced 
by an angel, saying ; ' 'Behold I bring you Good Tidings 
of great joy, which shall be to all people." The be- 
ginning of the gospel was an outburst of triumphant 
song from all the host of heaven ; and the term gos- 
pel, or Good Tidings, fitly describes the message which 
God has sent to scatter brightness through a dark and 
desolate world, which makes glad the hearts of the 
weary and the disconsolate on earth, and which, 
when re-echoed to the skies, causes joy in heaven 
over sinners returning to the Lord. The world with- 
out the gospel would be a world of darkness. The 
highest joys of social and domestic life, the songs we 
sing, the praises we offer, and the prayers in which 
we pour our sorrows at a Saviour's feet, all have their 
birth in "the glorious gospel of the blessed God." 

This gospel is a message of peace, peace to them 
that are afar off in the dark wilderness of sin and 
sorrow ; and peace to them that are nigh, who have 
been "brought nigh by the blood of Christ" and have 
been made partakers of the riches of Divine favor, 
and enabled to rejoice with joy unspeakable, and 
full of glory. 

The work of righteousness is peace ; and when the 
righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, it com- 
mences its peaceful work for man. First then 1 Is 
"Peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
The days of rebellion are ended, the soul accepts the 
amnesty which God has offered, and returns to that 
allegiance from which fallen man has so deeply re- 
volted. The rebellious strife is over-, and though 

[iiij 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

there may be tumult in the world without, and con- 
flict in the heart within, yet there is calm above, 
there is peace with God. The soul, freed from the dis- 
order of rebellion, and yielding to the mild and benefi- 
cent sway of its Creator, falls into a sweet and hallowed 
harmony with Him who ruleth the earth and heaven, 
and who worketh all things according to the counsel 
of his will. When once peace is made with Gocl, 
then His peace enshrines itself within the obedient 
heart. The conflict being over, and the obdurate 
will bowed in submission, the weapons of rebellion 
are laid down, the Holy Spirit of God is shed forth 
within the heart, and the fruits of that Spirit, which 
are u love, joy and peace, n are brought forth in their 
season. From that time the trusting child of God is 
held as by a hallowed spell. The world may rage, 
storms may rise, thunders may roll, tempests burst, 
and billows swell outside, but there is peace within. 

Seamen tell us, that sometimes, when ships are in 
peril from storms, a tiny stream of oil, poured over the 
vessel's side, will spread over acres of tumultuous 
water, quieting and calming the furious waves, so that 
in the midst of the raging sea the vessel rides securely 
within that charmed circle over which the oil has 
spread. So the peace of God, dwelling in the heart, 
overflows, and thus there is peace at home, peace 
in the family, peace in the community, peace amid 
the turmoil of worldly care and strife, peace in the 
fellowship of the saints of God, peace which causes 
the perturbed and despairing world to look with 
astonishment upon the calmness of the trusting saint, 
peace which is to the unsaved an insoluble mystery, 
— the peace of God that passeth knowledge, — the 
peace that passeth all understanding. 

The gospel of peace has blessed the world for ages. 
It has beaten swords into plough-shares and spears 
into pruning-hooks. It has caused the warrior to lay 
down his weapons, and the man of blood to become a 
man of peace and love. And though heathenish bar- 
barism still prevails, arrogating to itself the profes- 



INTRODUCTION. V 

sion of Christianity until the name of God is blas- 
phemed among the heathen through the wickedness of 
the sinful nations and peoples of Christendom, yet 
wherever the true gospel has gone, there it has ever 
been a message of peace to man. 

But we must distinguish between "the gospel of 
peace," and the peace Itself which that gospel pro- 
claims. As "the gospel of the kingdom" is the 
good news of the kingdom, but it is not the kingdom 
in its fullness; so the gospel of peace, with ail its 
blessed present fruits, is but the proclamation and 
promise of greater peace and grander blessing than 
the world has ever known. 

That Holy Child who was born in Bethlehem bears 
the titles, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Ever- 
lasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isa. ix. Wonder- 
ful in°his birth, and in the mystery of his divine exis- 
tence ; a Counsellor such as the world had never known 
before, his counsels have for many centuries blessed 
a race which had long wandered in perplexity 
and darkness. He is Mignty God, mighty to save, 
mio-hty to pardon, mighty to redeem, mighty to heal, 
mighty to hush the winds and calm the waves, mighty 
to rebuke demons, conquer the powers of darkness, 
and burst the fetters of the tomb; mighty as the 
bearer of all power in heaven and in earth, which is 
given into his hands, while he sits at the right hand 
of God, expecting until his enemies be made his foot- 
stool. He is the everlasting Father; Father of eter- 
nal ao-es yet unborn, Father of that race which it was 
predicted that he should behold when, risen from the 
o T ave, he should see his seed, and prolong, his days; 
Father of the deathless multitudes who, having relin- 
quished the life derived from the first Adam, lay hold 
on that life eternal which comes through the Second 
Man the Lord from heaven, and whom he shall present 
in the presence of the glory of the Father, saving, 
" Behold, I and the children whom thou hast given 

me." . 

13nt he is the Prince of peace, bringing peace as 



yi INTRODUCTION. 

God's message to a lost world ; preaching- peace to 
the troubled and the tempest-tossed; making peace 
through the blood of his cross ; and finally making 
wars to cease to the ends of the earth, breaking the 
bow, and cutting the spear in sunder, and burning the 
chariot in the fire; scattering the nations that delight 
in war; breaking the rebellious as with a rod of iron, 
and dashing them in pieces like a potter's vessel; 
overcoming every foe, until death, the last enemy, is 
destroyed. And when all things are subdued unto Him ; 
and the mountains shall bring peace to the people, 
and the little hills, by righteousness; when, there shall 
be abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth; 
when the God of peace shall bruise Satan under the 
feet of his saints, and glory, and honor, and peace 
shall be given to every man that worketh good ; — when 
we shall enter upon those coming cycles of eternal 
bliss and gladness, we shall know the meaning of that 
last resplendent title, "Prince of peace," and shall 
comprehend as never before, "how beautiful upon the 
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good 
tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good 
news of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith 
unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isa. lii. 7. 

To those who in the midst of this troubled and dis- 
ordered world would seek peace and pursue it; to 
those who long to share the Wonders of Redeeming 
Love, and who commit themselves to the guidance of 
the Shepherd of Israel, these pages are commended, 
in the hope that they will bring comfort to troubled 
and tempest-tossed souls, and guide the feet of weary 
wanderers "in the way of peace." 

H. L. H. 

Boston, Mass., July, 1884. 



PREFACE. 



Religion may be contemplated under various 
aspects: 

First, It may be viewed as it existed in man's 
soul when he was first created. A principle of 
veneration towards the Supreme was then im- 
planted in his nature ; and we can no more 
escape from its influence than from any of the 
great laws which should regulate man's conduct. 
Religion in that aspect, however, is now seen only 
as a defaced and distorted thing. It is held by 
Atheists, in spite of all their denials of a God — 
by Deists — and by heathens. 

Secondly, Religion may be viewed as it is 
revealed and recorded in the Book of Inspira- 
tion — "the Word of the Lord, which endureth 
for ever." 

[vii] 



Vlll PREFACE. 

Thirdly j It may be contemplated, as it is often 
embodied in a series of doctrines, which are in- 
tellectually believed upon sufficient evidence, as 
men believe historical or moral truths ; and this 
is the form of religion which satisfies many of 
the cultivated minds of Christendom. It is not a 
life — a principle of action, extending to all that 
has reference to man's responsibility to God — but 
a theory, a system, a creed — as unlike the w^,rm 
realities of truth, as the ice palace of the Northern 
Empress was unlike the ordinary dwellings of 
men. 

Or finally, Religion may be viewed as taught 
to an individual soul by the Holy Spirit, accord- 
ing to the Inspired Book, It then regulates the 
life ; it purifies the heart ; it animates our hopes ; 
it points our thoughts to God ; it is the means of 
re-connecting us with the Eternal, and preparing 
us for glory, through Him who is the sum and 
the centre of all saving truth — the Son of God. 
In this form, religion appears in its highest mani- 
festation as Devotion, or communion with God, 
according to his Word ; and when it has advanced 
to this stage, it becomes next of kin to glory, 



PREFACE. IX 

honour, and immortality, whether it be presiding 
over the activities of life, purifying and hallow- 
ing its joys, or directing the aspirations of the 
lonely soul when it is " feeling after God," and 
a sense of his favor. 

The following brief Meditations are designed to 
foster godliness of the last-mentioned type. The 
Inspired Word is at once the standard and the 
substance of all that is true in regard to salva- 
tion ; and for that reason, the conscience, the 
heart, and soul, are here kept in close contact 
with the truth which the Holy Spirit inspired 
Nothing systematic, as an exhibition of truth, has 
been here attempted, though the three sections of 
the volume bear reference to the' three stages in 
which personal religion may be studied : or, first, 
As presented — " Good Tidings;" secondly, As 
attracting the soul by its " Wonders ; " and thirdly, 
As realized, when man is under the gracious guard- 
ianship of " the Shepherd of Israel." 

Ours is a restless age. The truth of God is 
now in danger of being exiled from the mind by 
the engrossments and agitations amid which we 



X r K K FACjS. 

live. But would men be kept steadfast and un- 
movable ? Would they be preserved from pin- 
ing in their religion, like an exotic in a chilling 
climate ? Then, amid their cares, their journey- 
ings, and their spiritual perils, let the soul be at 
once defended and refreshed by communion with 
the God of the Word. In simplicity and earnest- 
ness of spirit, let at least a crumb of the bread 
of life be tasted, when we cannot be satisfied to 
the full. The world will then be more under 
our feet, and heaven more in our heart ; and it 
is to promote that result, by the blessing of the 
Spirit, that these Meditations upon some views of 
the gospel of His grace, are offered to as many 
as have learned to " call on the name of the 
Lord." 



CONTENTS. 



'% tepil nf tymn. 



Pa** 

The Ways of Man, Eccles. vii. 29, 13 

The Fountain of Hope, Gen. iii. 15, 16 

The Open Fountain, Isaiah i. 18, 18 

The Almighty Advocate, Heb. vii. 25, 20 

Good Tidings of Great Joy, Luke ii. 10, 22 

Love from God and to Him, Rom. v. 8, 24 

The Compassionate One, Isaiah xlii. 3, 26 

.Redemption Complete,. John xix. 30, 28 

Salvation Free, Isaiah lv. 1, 30 

The Righteousness of God, Isaiah xlvi. 13, 82 

The Spirit of Jesus, 1 Cor. xii. 3, 34 

The Blood of Christ, Jer. i. 20, 36 

The God of Pardons, Isaiah xliii. 25, 38 

On Earth Peace, Luke ii. 14, 40 

The Glorious Gospel, Rom. v. 6, 42 

Grace Abounding, Mark xvi. 15, 44 

The Almighty Promiser, Isaiah liv. 10, 46 

The Way to the Father, John xiv. 6, 48 



8 CONTENTS. 

Page 

Look and Live, Isaiah xlv. 22, 60 

The Abundance of Peace, Psalm lxviii. 18, 62 

The Price of Redemption,. .... . .Isaiah xliv. 22, 64 

Gold Tried in the Fire, Rev. iii. 18 56 

Grace and Glory, Zech. iv. 7, 58 

The Gift of God, Rom. vi. 23, 60 

The Refuge of Lies, Isaiah xxviii. 15, 62 

Faith, Rom. i. 17 64 

Jehovah our Righteousness,. . . .Jer. xxiii. 6, 66 

The New Heart, John iii. 7, 68 

Godly Sorrow, Zech. xii. 10, 70 

Jesus, Matt. i. 21, 72 

The Cross, Col. i. 20, 74 

The Hiding-Place, Isaiah xxxii. 2, 76 

The Sinner's Substitute, Isaiah liii. 5, 78 

The Alternative, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, 80 

The Force of Truth, Heb. iv. 12, 82 

The Glory of Man, Isaiah lx. 19, 84 

The Sun of Righteousness, Mai. iv. 2, 86 

Spiritual Declension, John vi. 66, .88 

The Great Restoration, 2 Chron. vi. 18, 90 

The Heart- Searcher, Heb. iv. 13, 92 

The Arm of the Lord, Judges viii. 4, 94 

The Stronghold, Numb, xxxiii. 23, ..96 



CONTENTS. 9 

€ju Wmlm nf llrtamtig £hbl 

Fags 

The Wonderful, Isaiah ix. 6 100 

The two Pleas, Psalm xxv. 11, 102 

The Reign of Love, 2 Cor. v. 14, 104 

The Wonder of Wonders, Luke xviii. 13, 106 

The God of Pardons, Micah vii. 18, 108 

Pardon and its Fruit, 2 Sam. xii. 13; Psalm li. 3,. 110 

Abased, yet Hoping, Psalm viii. 4,. .- 112 

The Sure Defence, Psalm xlvi. 7, 114 

The Name of The Lord, Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7, 116 

The Wisdom of God, Rom. xi. 33, 118 

Hope in God, Psalm xlii. 11, 120 

The Portion of the Soul, Psalm xl. 17, 122 

A Contrast, Isaiah lv. 8, 124 

The Man of Sorrows, .Luke ix. 58, 126 

The Blood of the Cross, Eph. ii. 13, 128 

The Mystery of Godliness, 1 Tim. iii. 16, 130 

The Goodly Heritage,. Lam. iii. 24; Deut. xxx. 9,. 132 

The Boldness of Faith, Heb. x. 19, 134 

The True Ambition, Job xiv. 4, 136 

"otkength in Weakness, 2 Cor. xii. 10, 138 

The Stay of the Saint, Isaiah xxx. 7, 140 

The Spirit of Holiness, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 142 



10 CONTENTS. 

Page 

The True Forgiveness, Psalm cxxx. 4, 144 

The Believer Complete,, Col. ii. 10, 146 

The Right Way, .Psalm cvii. 7, 148 

The Glory of Man, 2 Peter i. 4, 150 

The Truth Imperishable, Exod. iii. 2, 152 

The Heavenly Witness, Rom. viii. 16, 154 

The Comprehensive Prayer,. . . .Exod. xxxiii. 18, 156 

The Obedience of One, Rom. v. 19, 158 

The Message of Peace, 1 John i. 9, 160 

Adoption, 1 John iii. 1, .162 

The Saviour's Humiliation, Psalm xxii. 6, 164 

Joy in God, Rom. v. 11, 166 

Christ the Life, Gal. ii. 20, 168 

The Curse, Gal. iii. 13, 170 

The Triumph, Psalm xxiii. 4, 172 

Glory, 1 Peter v. 1, 174 

The Heart Kept, Jude 20, 21 176 

Man's Idol atry — The Antidote, . Exod. xxxii. 1, 178 

The Destroyer, .1 Peter v. 8, 180 

Deliverance from Fear of Death,. .Heb. ii. 15, 182 

The Heavenly Guide, .Exod. xv. 12, 184 

Mercies Deep as Floods, Deut. xxxii. 11, 12, 186 

The Altogether Lovely,. ....... Song v. 10, 188 

The Grand Consummation, 1 Cor. ii. 9, .190 



CONTENTS. 



€\)i IjjfjihErii nf %m\. 



.194 



.198 
.200 
.202 
.204 



The Shepherd of Israel, Psalm xxiii. 1, 

The Flock of God, Isaiah xliii. 1, 196 

The Faithful Promiser, Heb. x. 23, 

Everlasting Remembrance, Isaiah xlix. 16, 

Salvation made Sure, Heb. xii. 2, 

The All-Sufficient One, John iv. 29, 

The Sanctuary of the Soul, Ezek. xl. 16, 206 

The Rock of our Confidence,. . .1 John iv. 4, 208 

Joy Restored, Isaiah xii. 1, 210 

The Gift Received, Isaiah xii. 2, 

Streams in the Desert, Isaiah xii. 3, 

The Spirit of Praise,. Isaiah xii. 4, 

Scarcely Saved, 1 Peter iv. 18, 218 

The Peace of God, Phil. iv. 6, 7, 220 

" Know the Lord," Hosea vi. 3, 222 

TnE Mysterious Life, Col. iii. 3, 224 

Sorrowing, yet Rejoicing, Isaiah lxiii. 9, 226 

The Path of Peril, 1 Thess. v. 19, 228 

The Great Calm, Matt. xiv. 27, 230 

The Thoughts of Vanity, Jer. iv. 14, 232 

The Effectual Prayer, Luke xxiii. 42,... 234 

Sirong in the Lord, Eph. vi. 10, 230 



212 
214 
216 



12 CONTENTS. 

Page 

The Lord alone Exalted,. . Col. iii. 11, „ 238 

Betrothed for Ever, Isaiah liv. 6, 240 

The Munition of Rocks, Psalm iii. 6, 242 

The Abased Exalted, Eph. iii. 8, 244 

The Great Contrast, 2 Cor. vi. 10, 246 

It is Well, Gen. xlii. 86, 248 

The Dew, Hosea xiv. 5, 250 

Prayer: its Power, Isaiah lxv. 24, , 252 

The Saviour's Kindred,. t . , . .Matt. xii. 50, 254 

The Hope of Glory, John vi. 47, 256 

The Heavenly-Minded, Phil. iii. 20, 258 

The Crown, 1 John iii. 2, 260 

Heavenward Progress, ... 2 Peter iii. 18, 262 

The Second Adam, 1 Cor. xv. 49, 264 

Transgression Finished, Heb. viii. 12, 266 

The Triumph, Phil. i. 23,,., 268 

Death Abolished, Gen. v. 27, 270 

Following the Lamb, Rev. vii. 17, 272 

Heaven, 1 Thess. iv. 14, 274 



GLAD TIDINGS; 

OR, 

THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. 



%\t Mm fff Pan. 

u IX), THIS ONLY HAVE I FOUND, THAT GOD HATH MADE MAN 

upright; BUT THEY HAVE sought out many inventions." — 

Eccl vii. 29. 

THE mere enumeration of these inventions might 
suffice to lay us in the dust, and cover us 
with shame and confusion there. A creature once in 
the image of God, and capable of wearing it again, 
has consented to forego the use of reason in regard 
to his soul — to violate the rights of conscience — to 
deny the righteous claims of the Holy One — to de- 
face his image in man, and show how thorough is 
the havoc wrought by sin at once in his under- 
standing and his heart. 

One of his inventions is to prefer the creature to 
God — to tremble at the frown, or exult in the smile 
of the thing made, and utterly disregard its Maker. 



14 man's way is ins folly. 

Another invention of man's is to expect happi- 
ness in sin, the source of all our woe ; to rush un- 
warned along the path which leads to misery, and 
jet to anticipate blessedness both along the way 
and at its termination. 

Another invention is to repose upon the word of 
a creature which is the victim of lying vanities, 
and has a heart which is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked ; and to withhold our con- 
fidence from Him who is the truth itself. 

And another of our inventions is to prefer ex- 
istence upon earth to existence in glory ; threescore 
years and ten to eternity ; or pleasures which melt 
into nothing while we try to grasp them, to the joy 
which is " unspeakable and full of glory." 

And another of our inventions is to place our 
own righteousness before that of God ; to repose 
upon what He declares to be utterly impure, when 
tested by the standard of heaven, instead of resting 
upon the everlasting righteousness of the Son of 
God — the origin of hope to the sons of men. 

Or, to name no more, another invention of the 
fallen creature is to think that the religion which 
was sufficient in Eden — when no Mediator was 
needed, for there was no taint of sin — can still suf- 
fice when man has become degraded, polluted, and 
therefore an outcast from the favor of his God. 

Now, surely u man's way is his folly " in all such 
inventions. To be captivated with sin, and to de- 



TVISDOM FROM ABOVE. 15 

spise holiness — to confide in a creature, and make 
God a liar — to trample on the claims of conscience, 
and listen to the voice of passion — to grasp the 
phantom, and discard the substance ; — surely these 
are proofs sufficient that the image of God has been 
utterly defaced, when man — responsible, rational, and 
once God-like man — can thus 

" Hate truth, and be the dupe of lies." 

But glory to God in the highest — man's primal 
uprightness may jet be restored. The image of God 
may be stamped on the soul again. Conscience may 
be replaced in her supremacy — reason may be made 
her handmaiden once more — and all may yet move 
in harmony with the mind*of God. Christ is made 
wisdom to us — behold our folly turned upside down ! 
The Holy Spirit makes all things new — behold 
the fall and its ruin counteracted by omnipotent 
grace ! 

THE PROOF. 

"After that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom 
knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching 
to save them that believe." — 1 Cor. i. 21. 

THE COMPLAINT. 

"Frail beauty and false honor are adored, 
While Thee they scorn, and trifle with thy Word: 
Men heedless pass a Saviour's sorrows by, 
And hunt their ruin with a zeal to die." 



®|e Jfjaittain af f 05*. 

"AND I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN THEE AND THE WOMAN, 
AND BETWEEN THY SEED AND HER SEED; IT SHALL BRUISE THY 
HEAD, AND THOU SHALT BRUISE HIS HEEL." — Gen. Ui. 15. 

HERE is the origin at once of anguish and of 
joy — Of anguish, because man has rebelled 
against his God ; has believed a creature, and made 
the Creator a liar ; has sought happiness in sin, 
and preferred woe and death to the blessing, and 
to life. Eden is blighted now ; all its beauties are 
faded, while man's heart is more blighted still. 
He who is love is now disliked; he is fled from, 
and dreaded. The whole head is sick, and the 
whole heart is faint, and that in the very being 
who lately wore the image of the Holy One. 

But here also is the origin of new hope and joy 
to the fallen — joy from the very God from whom 
man had turned away, or whom man would not 
believe — joy, in short, from Him who could not 
but punish sin, and yet would not but pity the 
sinner. Here is the first hint of the glad tidings 
of great joy. Here is the key-note of the Gospel, 
heard as soon as it was needed, from the lips 
of Him whose tender mercies are over all his 
other works. The blessing and the curse, joy and 
misery, life and death, are here placed side by 
side. " The seed of the woman shall bruise thy 



hast thou iiopk? 17 

head'* — that is the tempter's doom : "Thou shalt 
bruise his heel " — that is the first prophecy of the 
Redeemer's woe, and the first glimpse of hope to 
fallen man. My soul ! behold here the loving-kind- 
ness of the Lord. Hast thou felt it ? Is the heart 
touched by it ? Is this to thee the voice of God 
indeed ; or is it still like an unknown tongue, 
unfelt, and disregarded? He who discovered the 
sources of the mighty Nile, tells of his rapture as 
he gazed upon the fountains. But here is the foun- 
tain of that river whose streams make glad the 
city of our God. Hast thou rejoiced in it? Art 
thou rejoicing, and preparing to rejoice for ever ? 
O be honest. Be earnest. Is he sane who trifles 
with his eternity, his soul, and his God — who leaves 
the great question — where is thy abode for ever to 
be? — unadjusted, and in doubt ! 

THE PROOF. 

" He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the devil 
sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of 
God was manifested,' that he might destroy the works of the 
devil." — 1 Joiln iii. 8. 

tup: blessing. 

11 thou, my soul, do thou return 
Unto thy quiet rest, 
For largely, lo, the Lord to thee 
His bounty hath exprest." 



B* 



%\t #pn |0tttttaiit. 

" COME NOW, AND LET US REASON TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD, 
THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET, THEY SHALL BE AS WHITE AS 
SNOW; THOUGH THEY BE RED LIKE CRIMSON, THEY SHALL BE AS 

wool." — Isaiah \. 18. 

IF the judgments of God be a great deep, not 
less so are his mercies. The sinner may pre- 
sume upon the one hand, or despair upon the other ; 
but here is mercy made sure to the chief of sinners 
— here is glory to God, and yet joy to those who 
have rebelled against Him. Is conscience felt to 
be polluted ? Is it like scarlet and like crimson, 
and is the sinner ready, like Job, to say, " Though 
I wash myself with snow-water, and make myself 
never so clean, yet mine own clothes will abhor 
me ? " Even then the Holy One comes with the 
assurance that He will wash us, so that we shall 
be whiter than the snow. O my soul, thou knowest 
none so guilty as thyself— none so polluted and 
vile, for thou knowest none who have sinned against 
light, against privilege, against compassions like 
thine. Flee, then, to the much-needed fountain — 
there is safety, for there is purity, only there. 
And rejoice that the way is open — that the invita- 
tion is free. It is addressed to men whose sins 
are " as scarlet," or " red like crimson," and God 
is glorified when his mercy is welcomed. Wel- 
come it, then, and live for evermore. But do not 



TIIK ALT Elf NATIVE. 19 

forget the divine alternative — "How shall we 
escape if we neglect the great salvation ? " While 
all are welcome in the appointed way, yet " no man 
cometh to the Father but by the Son," and O, how 
soothing to the soul to walk in that path ! It is 
" the way of peace." u The very God of peace " i* 
our guide ; u the covenant of peace" is our guarantee 
— a covenant as unchanging as the everlasting hills, 
while " the Prince of Peace " gladdens and sustains. 
Such honour have all his saints. My soul, in the 
sight of the heart-searching eye, is that honor thine? 
But as God designed his people to be happy, far 
more is said of this peace — it is presented to us in 
the Word in many attractive forms. It is called 
" great peace ; " it is described as " perfect peace ; " 
it is spoken of as Christ's peace — nay, as the very 
" peace of God ; " and can he be a loyal subject of 
the Prince of Peace who is still downcast and de- 
jected ? 

THE PROOF. 

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house 
of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for 
uncleanness." — Zech. xiii. 1. 

THE HYMN. 

"All might" supplied — how gracious 

The God who spoke that word! 
"All sin forgiven" — how precious 

Such mercy from our Lord! 

"Complete in Christ" — Hosanna! 

The Judge will not disown; 
Nay, " Ye are Christ's," and glory 

Awaits you on His throne. 



" WHEREFORE HE IS ABLE ALSO TO SAVE THEM TO THE UTTER- 
MOST THAT COME UNTO GOD BY HIM, SEEING HE EVER L1VETH TO 
MIKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM." — Ed), vii. 25. 

WILL he save a sinner such as I am? — a sinner 
against reason, against conscience, against 
providences, against experience, against the Word, 
against God — a sinner from my youth — a sinner 
in spite of vows the most solemn, and obligations 
the most binding ? Is it possible that there can be 
hope for me ? Even in Godhead, is there mercy 
to meet a case like mine ? 

Such are the questions sometimes asked by the 
earnest soul, when it is awakened from the delusions 
of sin, but has not yet discovered how God is glori- 
fied in pardoning. That soul can no longer make 
a mock at sin ; nay, the arrows of the Almighty 
stick fast in the conscience, and no human hand can 
either extract them or heal the wound. When the 
Spirit arises in his might to " convince of sin, and 
righteousness, and judgment," the sinner is laid in 
the dust, and the evil heart of unbelief often sug- 
gests the question — " Is there pardon for me f for 
one so vile, so blinded, and perverse ? " 

The answer is — The High-Priest in the heavens 
can save to the uttermost all that come to God by 
him. That means, we must surpass the uttermost, 



TH1-: INTERCESSOR. 21 

and that means, we must accomplish an impossibility, 
before we can be beyond the reach of pardon, while 
we continue here below. The God and Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ foreknew how suspicious and 
distrustful the awakened soul would be. Pledge 
upon pledge is therefore given, and all that can 
either encourage the downcast or rebuke the doubt- 
ing, is recorded in the Word. The heavens are 
opened to our faith, as they were to Stephen's vision. 
We are permitted to behold the ever-living Inter- 
cessor there, pleading our cause, and making our 
peace secure. On the basis of his work finished 
on earth, he is prosecuting his high enterprise in 
the heavens. The earnest soul is thus interested in 
the intercession of one " whom the Father heareth 
always ; " and when the God of truth announces that 
fact, should not every heart be faith, and every 
tongue be praise ? " He can save unto the utter- 
most." " O, who is a God like unto thee, who 
passest by the transgression of the remnant of thy 
people ? " 

THE ASSURANCE. 

"Tf any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Fathei, 
Jesus Christ the Righteous." — 1 John ii. 1. 

THE HYMN. 

" He who for men their surety stood, 
And poured on earth his precious blood, 
Pursues in heaven his mighty plan, 
The Saviour and the Friend of man." 



(Baai flti&ings a( &xnt $03. 

" BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY, WHICH 
SHALL BE TO ALL PEOPLE." — Luke \\. 10. 

A MESSAGE worthy of an angel's voice ! A 
Saviour born — Omnipotence and helplessness 
combined — the Infinite and the finite in one — hope 
dawning on the despairing — happiness guaranteed 
to the wretched — peace with God made sure — the 
clouds and thick darkness which sin threw around 
Him cleared away — and the soul privileged once 
more to rejoice in the light of Jehovah's coun- 
tenance — behold the substance of the heavenly 
message ! 

And these good tidings of great joy are " to all 
people." The desire of all nations has arrived. 
He has taken on Him the seed of Abraham. The 
day-star may now arise in men's hearts ; and in 
every kindred, and nation, and tribe, and tongue, 
they may begin the anthem which is to be sung 
by the redeemed, world without end. 

But are these good tidings for me? Yes, unless 
I refuse to receive them. May my soul listen to 
the heavenly message ? It forsakes its own mercies 
if it refuse to welcome it. Would it not be pre- 
sumption in me to seize upon the children's bread ? 
The presumption lies in refusing wiiat the Father 
offers. Hold out, then, the empty hand of faith ; 



STRONG CONSOLATION. 23 

stretch forth the withered arm ; freely take what 
God so freely offers, and in taking it rejoice with 
a portion of the joy which is unspeakable. Does 
the sun shine freely on our homes ? Do the breezes 
of heaven play without restraint around us, and 
does the fevered brow rejoice to feel their play ? 
Is the dew gladdening to the tender plant ? Is a 
mother's voice sweet to the child of her heart ? Is 
the sight of his native land welcome to the exile 
and the outcast ? or is its language a source of joy 
in a distant land? Surely not less joyous the glad 
tidings which the angel brought from heaven, when 
welcomed by the heart of man ! These tidings 
embody all that even Jehovah could convey in the 
language of earth — pardon, peace, immortality, 
holiness, glory, God. These are the portion of 
the man that trembles at God's Word ; and when 
all these are involved in one " unspeakable gift," 
who would not open the heart to welcome it? 

THE PROOF. 

u Why are ye fearful, 0, ye of little faith ? " — Matt. viii. 26. 

THE CONVICTION. 

"Though in the upward path to life 
The saint must often sigh, 
Yet, trusting in our God, we find 



" When he who bade the world to be 
Has pledged his mighty power, 
Bright hope may cheer the downcast soul,- 
m cloud need longer lower." 



fofae frxrm ®b1i anfr tj jjim. 

" GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT, WHILE WE 
WERE YET SINKERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US." — Rom. V. 8. 

OUCH was the heart of man — so distrustful of 
^J God, so suspicious, and so estranged — that a 
mere announcement of the Father's love was not 
enough. Something was needed to attract atten- 
tion to it — to demonstrate its depth — its ardor — 
its unquenchable nature. He accordingly com- 
mended it to us, and the mode of commending it 
was by the death of the Saviour for sinners. — Not 
for friends, but for enemies ; not for loyal subjects, 
but for rebels ; not for those who loved, but for crea- 
tures whose hearts were turned against their God — 
for these the Saviour died. Toward these the love 
of God in Christ w T as manifested, and the very hand 
that is lifted up in revolt may thus be gently taken 
down by the constraining love of Christ. That 
powder which is paramount in heaven, becomes para- 
mount on earth, at least in the heart of a believer ; 
and a new moral principle, the love of the Re- 
deemer to the lost, comes to reign in the bosom 
where enmity and rebellion reigned before. 

O my soul, hast thou felt the power of that love, 
or art thou still a stranger, to it? Hast thou cast 
away the weapons of thy rebellion, and art thou 
standing ready to exclaim, " Lord, thou knowest 



TDK SP1TCIT OF LOVE. 25 

all things : thou knowest that I love thee ? " Or art 
thou still indifferent, eold, unmoved, while God is 
commending his love to sinners, even the chief? 

And 0, how humbling is the discovery that the 
commendations with which God has surrounded 
his love are all in vain, unless the Holy Spirit 
unscale our eyes to see it, or melt our hearts to feel 
it ! God is needed not merely to devise such a plan 
of redeeming love — or not merely to reveal it in 
our world : He is needed, moreover, to make us 
feel it ; and never, never is the love of God in the 
gift of his Son felt or regarded at all, until the 
new-creating Spirit make all things new. O may 
that Spirit breathe on my soul, that it may live ! 
His first fruit is love. May that appear in rich 
abundance in my soul — that He who is love may 
be greatly glorified ; and that I may never forget 
that the supreme proof of my love is to " keep his 
commandments." 

THE TROOP. 

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath 
to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelled: in 
God, and God in him." — 1 John iv. 16. 

THE HYMN. 

" Spirit, breathe that love divine, 
Which fired the Saviour's soul, 
Till linked in love to Him by Thee, 
We own his blest control." 



%\)t tatpssiflnaU (Due. 

U A BRUISED REED SHALL HE NOT BREAK; AND THE SMOKING 
FLAX SHALL HE NOT QUENCH." — Jsaitth xlii. 3. 

MAN heaps sin upon sin — God piles mercy upon 
mercy. It is a sport to man to do mischief — 
God waits to be gracious, and multiplies blessing 
upon blessing, even to the evil and the unthankful. 
Does he see a soul bowed to the earth with sor- 
row, mourning in its complaint, and making a 
noise, forsaken by father or mother, or, worst of 
all, weary and heavy laden with a burden of sin ? 
Then that bruised reed he will not break. Nay, 
he will bind it up, and it is made whole, unless it 
thrust away the hand that would graciously heal. 
Or does he behold some soul like smoking flax — 
feeling after God — beginning to live for spiritual 
things — seeing men like trees walking, or just at the 
dawn of the day of small things ? To that soul he 
gives strength, vea, he increases might, so that it 
becomes strong in the Lord. That heart which is 
love pities, that eye which never slumbers sees, 
that ear which is ever open to the cry of the feeble, 
hears the mourner's complaint. Strength is given 
according to his day; and at last he glories in 
tribulation, or blesses God because the heart has 
bled.* O, who is a God like unto thee ? and yet I 
have rebelled against thee ! But though this be to 



TIIE RETURN. 27 

my shame, I can only lean on the arm which I 
have impiously resisted ; I can only cast myself on 
the mercy which I have despised ; I can only try 
to lose my will in the will of him who doeth all 
things well. Prodigal as I am, I hasten to my 
Father's house. He will hear me, as he heard 
Ephraim bemoaning himself; and for him to hear 
is to pity. In those who seek him, he never saw 
a tear which he did not dry, nor witness a sorrow 
which he did not soothe. If the widow of Nain 
experienced his compassion, need I despair ? If 
the helpless paralytic, after eight-and-thirty years 
of hope deferred, was made whole by his almighty 
word, should I question either his willingness or 
his power ? Nay, I will take with me words, and 
return to Him from whom I have wandered — "I 
will arise and go to my father's house." " Return, 
then, to thy rest, O my soul." " O thou my soul, 
bless God the Lord." 

THE PEOOF. 

44 The Lord is gracious, and full of c^ipassion ; slow to 
anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all; and hia 
tender mercies are over all his works. " — Ps. cxlv. 8,9. 

the vow. 

"Thy grace shall dwell within my heart, 
And shed its fragrance there; 
The noblest balm For all its wounds, 
The cordial of its care. 

44 The bruised One has borne our griefs, 
The Lamb of God our sins; 
Then fear not — lo, the reign of love 
In ransomed souls begins." 



" it is finished." — John xix. 30. 

THE law of God is magnified and made honor- 
able. Peace is now made between God and 
man, on terms which glorify the Holy One. The 
atonement is complete. Independent of man or 
man's power, the sure foundation is laid — an eye 
has been given for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a 
hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. Provision 
is made for cleansing the conscience. An end of 
transgression is made. An everlasting righteous- 
ness is brought in. The Holy Spirit is purchased 
and will be sent. A plea is provided for the 
chief of sinners, so that " It is finished" spoken by 
the Saviour on the cross, may send a thrill of joy 
to the heart of the believing sinner upon earth, as 
it enhances the blessedness of the just made perfect 
in heaven. 

" My soul is polluted," exclaims the humbled 
believer. " Pollution is finished by the blood which 
cleanses from it all," rejoins the Saviour on the 
cross, or from his throne in glory. 

" The burden of my guilt is greater than I can 
bear," exclaims the self-condemned soul. " It is 
finished ; there is no condemnation," is the reply of 
the Redeemer, as he waits to be gracious. 

" I shall cne day perish," is the expression of 



A FREE SALVATION. 29 

the awakened conscience. " That is a thing impos- 
sible ; a ransom has been found, and redemption is 
finished," is again the answer from the cross. Thy 
sins, though their name be legion, may all be swept 
away. 

Freely take, then, what God has so freely pro- 
vided, and be not faithless, but believing. 

" When thoughts 



Of the last bitter hour come like a blight 

Over thy spirit, and sad images 

Of the stern agony, and shroud and pall, 

And breathless darkness, and the narrow house 

Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart, 

Go forth — " 

— and looking in faith to the cross on which the 
Redeemer died as the substitute of his people, re- 
member his last words and rejoice. The condemn- 
ing power of sin is finished, and the prophecy of 
Daniel is fulfilled to every soul that believes. 

THE PROOF. 

" Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon 
thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end 
of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring 
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision find 
prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." — Daniel ix. 24. 

THE HYMN. 

" 'Tis finished — The Messiah dies 
For sins, but not his own; 
The great redemption is complete, 
And Satan's power o'erthrown. 

"*Tis finished — all his groans are past, 
His blood, his pain, and toils 
Have fully vanquished our foes, 

And crowned him with their spoils." 



jsalbainnt $xtt. 



" HO, EVERY ONE THAT TIIIRSTETH, COME YE TO THE WATERS, 
AND HE THAT HATH NO MONEY; COME YE, BUY, AND EAT; YEA, 
COME, BUY WINE AND MILK, WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT 

PRICE." — Isaiah lv. 1. 

WHY come ? Because the invitation is ad- 
dressed to sinners, and I am surely one. 
Am not I so athirst as to be weary and faint in my 
mind ? Is not my soul like one that dwells in a 
dry parched land ? Have I not felt that all this 
world can offer cannot satisfy my soul ? I have fled 
to object after object, and listened to counsellor 
afte** counsellor. When one thing disappointed, 
I have tried another, and another ; but all have 
failed. Rest seems to flee as I pursue it ; and I 
can now only mourn in my complaint, and make 
a noise. If I say, Surely change of scene, or of 
friends, or pursuits, will bring relief, lo, vanity 
and vexation are stamped upon them, till I am 
compelled to say, " Miserable comforters are ye 
all." The delight of my eyes taken away with a 
stroke ; my own familiar friend become my enemy ; 
the object of my affection turned into bitterness ; 
or to crown all, my sins pressing upon me like a 
load too heavy for me to bear and live ; conscience 
accusing, the soul distempered and dismayed — 
surely these all urge me to flee to the fountain so 
full and so free! 



BELIEF. 31 

But may I flee ? One so guilty, one so perverse, 
or so far goue in sin — may / flee ? To doubt it is 
to add sin to sin, to make God a liar, and there- 
fore to render ruin sure. His language is, " Ho, 
every one that thirsteth, come." Away, then, 
unbelief — away all faltering and delay. When 
God invites, I will, through grace, comply. When 
God promises, I will, through grace, believe. 
When the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, I will 
go ; and if I perish, I will perish in the arms of 
mercy, at the foot of the cross. But I should not 
be always laying the foundation of repentance from 
dead works. Nay, I should go on to perfection, 
and become strong in the Lord. For these pur- 
poses, I should live beside the throne of grace, for 
I am safe only when under its shadow, or linked 
to it by the golden chain of love. Come, then, 
Breath, and breathe upon this soul, that it may 
open to the Saviour, like the little flower to the 
sunshine and the dew. 

THE PROOF. 

"He that hath received His testimony, hath set to his sea] 
that God is true." — John iii. 33. 

THE RESOLUTION. 

"Just as I am, though tossed about 
With many a conflict, many a doubt, 
Fightings within and fears without, 

Lamb of God, I come." 



" I BRING NEAR MY RIGHTEOUSNESS; IT SHALL NOT BE FAH 
OFF, AND MY SALVATION SHALL NOT TARRY: AND I WILL PLACE 
SALVATION IN ZION FOR ISRAEL MY GLORY." — Isaiah xM. 13. 

HOW shall man be just with God ? is the ques- 
tion which the awakened conscience clamors 
to have answered ; and God himself answers it, 
saying, " I bring near my righteousness." Not 
the fallen creature's — that is tainted, and cannot 
justify. Not an angel's — he has none to spare. 
Not the righteousness of the just made perfect — 
" To which of the saints can we look ? " But 
Mine. Jehovah our righteousness " shall not be 
far off." 

Moreover, " My salvation shall not tarry." — 
Goaded by an accusing conscience, man may be 
urgent, impatient, and restless ; he may wish to 
set a time to the Supreme, as if the creature would 
dictate instead of praying. But unmoved by all 
that, the Eternal conducts his kingdom according 
to his own wise and holy will, and meanwhile, of 
this the soul may be assured — salvation shall not 
tarry, that is, it will come at the set time ; and 
when it comes, the soul will clearly see that that 
was the best time at once for the Holy One's glory, 
and the sinful one's humbling. 

Farther, " I will place salvation in Zion for 



THE PLEA. 33 

Israel my glory." In the church the blessing shall 
be enjoyed, for that is the channel, ;.s Jehovah is 
the fountain. "In the mount of the Lord's house 
it will be seen," and " I will glorify the house of 
my glory." Whether the sinner love them or no, 
the Lord loves the gates of Zion. There he meets 
with his people to gladden — there he unfolds his 
mind — there he explains the mysteries of provi- 
dence, and the deeper mysteries of redemption. 
" Of Zion it shall be said, ' This man and that man 
was born in her,' and the Highest himself shall 
establish her." " All my springs are in thee." 

Art thou, my soul, one of God's Israel, his 
glory? The Lord's portion is his people. Art 
thou of their number ? Hath he made thee to 
differ — a vessel meet for the master's use — or 
for the inheritance of the saints in light? Then 
rejoice and be exceeding glad. Enter even here 
on the joy of your Lord, and let your life be a 
hymn to his praise. 

THE PROOF. 

" The kingdom of God is ... . righteousness, and peace, and 
joy in the Holy Ghost." — Rom. xiv. 17. 

THE RESOLUTION. 

" No more, my God, I boast no more 
Of all the duties I have done; 
I quit the hopes I held before, 
To plead the merits of thy Son. 

M The best obedience of my hands 

Dare not appear before Thy throne; 
But Jesus answered Thy demands — 
I plead, Lord, what he hath done." 



%\t Sprit uf $*s«s. 

a NO MAN CAN SAY THAT JESUS IS THE LORD BUT BY THJ 

holy ghost." — 1 Cor. xii. 3. 

NO mother's affection, no father's authority, nc 
pastor's teaching, can make me a believer 
in Jesus. He has no beauty that I should desire 
him, and his treatment from the Jews is his treat- 
ment from mankind, while we have only nature to 
teach us. But what shall I render to the Lord for 
all his benefits ! The Spirit comes, and He takes of 
the things of Christ, and shows them to the soul. 
He unveils his beauty, by unsealing my eyes. He 
shows the Redeemer to be altogether lovely, and 
now like a child of Zion I bow to my Lord, and 
am joyful in my King. No more lip-homage and 
heart-rebellion. No more naming of his name 
only to dishonor it. No more walking in the 
footsteps of Judas, when he betrayed the Saviour 
with a kiss. I am one Spirit with the Lord. 
The Son now makes me free. Beholding his 
glory, the soul seeks to be transformed into his 
image. He becomes the very soul of the soul, its 
life, and being, and blessedness — its heaven while 
on the earth, and the heaven of its heaven on high. 
O my soul, has the Spirit taught thee to say that 
Jesus is thy Lord? Is he enthroned in the heart? 
:>r is thy service mechanical, formal, and heartless 



SOWING TO THE SPIRIT. 35 

still? An error here is fatal. To be right here 
is to be alive for evermore. And if the soul be 
indeed self-loving, it will seek to live in the Spirit, 
and to walk in the Spirit ; to cultivate the fruits 
of the Spirit, and so to prepare for following the 
Lamb whithersoever he leadeth. The great pro- 
mise of the Spirit is fulfilled to the New Testa- 
ment church, as the great promise of the Saviour 
was, in the fulness of time, fulfilled to the Old. 
How strange, then, they who continue to grovel 
when they might soar — to sow to the flesh when 
they might sow to the Spirit ! Into their assembly, 
mine honor, be not thou united ! Nay, live by 
faith upon the Son of God. Let nothing tempt 
thee to pause till thou art personally and indis- 
solubly united to the Lord, and made one spirit, 
one with him, " without which we are none of his." 

THE PROOF. 

u Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which 
he hath given us." — 1 John iii. 24. 

THE INVOCATION. 

" Come, Holy Spirit, from above, 
Our longing breasts inspire 
With the pure name of heavenly love, 
And fan the sacred fire. 

" We grieve Thee oft, and quench tnat flame 
Which lights the way to heaven, 
But lead us in thy love to him 
In whom all is forgiven." 



%\t §lfftf*r of tfjprist. 

"in those days, and in that time, saith the lord, the 
iniquity of israel shall be sought for, and there shall 
be none; and the sins of judah, and they shall not 
be found: for i will pardon them whom i reserve." — 
Jer. 1. 20. 

IT is sin that embitters life. It is the abominable 
thing which darkens our Father's countenance. 
It is sin that pollutes my conscience, and that mars 
my peace. It is sin that is the sting of death, and 
in the unpardoned that sting will cause the second 
death; it will be the cause of agony for ever. 

And do I not feel that sin cleaves, in spite of 
me, to my soul? When I would do good, evil is 
present with me. It kneels down with me when 
I pray ; it blends its offensive suggestions with my 
praise ; it haunts me while I read the Word, or 
hear it ; it intrudes alike amid the silence of the 
night, and the glare of day. Wherever self is sin 
will be found ; in short, it haunts, and pollutes, 
and harasses the soul amid its very attempts to 
serve the Holy One. 

But a voice is heard from heaven, and the Lord 
proclaims that " iniquity shall be sought for, and 
there shall be none," " and sins, but they shall not 
be found." They are cast into the depths of the 
sea. They are blotted out for ever. A sponge of 
extinction lias passed over them, and the believer 
can now exult in the freedom which the Son of God 



ART TIIOU PARDONED ? 37 

bestows. He exclaims with David, " Blessed is 
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is 
covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord 
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is 
no guile." Upon this subject the word of God has 
employed some of its strongest language. Here, if 
ever, line upon line is given to impress the mind 
alike with the freeness and the fulness of pardon. 
Till it be bestowed, man is in his best estate, a 
criminal already condemned, and hence the glad 
tidings of redemption through Christ's blood, even 
the forgiveness of sin ; hence the duty of every soul 
that would not be self-deluded and self-destroyed, 
to press to an adjustment this simple but solemn 
question, Art thou pardoned ? Glory to God in 
the highest, that the believer can be taught to ex- 
claim, u I thank God for deliverance from the body 
of sin and death, through Jesus Christ my Lord," 
and " There is now no condemnation for them that 
are in Christ." 

THE PROOF. 

4i The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin." 

1 John i. 7. 

THE HYMN. 

" Glory to God on high ! 

Let earth and skies reply, 
Praise ye his name ! 
His love and grace adore, 
Who all our sorrows bore: 
Sing aloud evermore, 

Worthy the Lamb." 

D 



" I, EVEN I, AM HE THAT BLOTTETH OUT THY TRANSGRES- 
SIONS FOR MINE OWN SAKE, AND WILL NOT REMEMBER THY 

sins." — Isaiah xliii. 25. 

TT^OR mine own sake" — that is the founda- 
-L tion of the Gospel, and the well-spring of 
hope to the sinner. All begins in grace, all is car- 
ried on by grace, and by grace the whole scheme 
of redemption is perfected. Man would fain find 
something in himself by which to move the un- 
changing One. My tears, my penitence, my suffer- 
ing, my sacrifices, my faith, my religion : behold 
some of the considerations to which even the be- 
liever is prone to cling in the hope of influencing 
his God, or regaining his favor. But, " for mine 
own sake " — puts all these delusions aside. In the 
fathomless depths of the divine compassion ; in that 
mercy which is like a great deep ; in that grace 
which is to be measured, if measured at all, by the 
sufferings of the Son of God — in these alone do 
we find a foundation for hope. Man is utterly set 
aside. He is laid in the dust, and God alone is 
exalted to the throne. In no case will he, in no 
case can he, give his glory to another, and least of 
all when blotting out iniquity, and restoring the soul 
to purity again. 

And mark, moreover, how this Almighty conde 



TITE SURK MERCIES. 39 

scension speaks. " I, I am He who will not 

remember thy sins." As if the Omniscient could 
forget ! As if He who is the same yesterday, to- 
day, and for ever, could change ! Now, when all 
this is said or done to re-assure the sinner, may he 
not boldly come for mercy to pardon? or if he still 
refuse under any pretext, may not the God of par- 
dons renew the complaint — "What could have been 
done to my vineyard that I have not done in it ? " 
O my soul, be it otherwise with thee ! Commit thy- 
self in well-doing to him who delights to pardon, and 
he will cause thee to delight " in the abundance of 
peace." " Put me in remembrance, let us plead to- 
gether," are the gracious words of God. Plead, 
then, in faith, and God must change before thy 
hopes can fail. 

THE INVITATION. 

" Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual 
covenant that shall not be forgotten." — Jer. 1. 5. 

THE CONVICTION. 

"Happy indeed the Christian's lot! 
His sins are all forgiven! 
A gladdening hope beams o'er his soul, 
And points his heart to heaven. 

u Worthy the Lamb, becomes his song; 
Who can condemn? he cries; 
And while his life is hid with Christ, 
His heart is in the skies." 



©n teijj fan. 

"glory to god in the highest, and on earth peace, 

GOOD-WILL. TOWARD MEN." — Luke ii. 14. 

MAN may forget his own chief end on earth — 
to glorify his God — but the heavenly host 
never forget the purpose of their being. They 
praised their God when his word gave the world 
birth. They praised Him when the Saviour came 
to do their work on earth. Another joy is felt by 
them — and another, and another — as soul after soul 
repents ; and " Glory to God in the highest," is ever 
the burden of their hosanna. 

And 0, what a topic ! glory to God and peace to 
man in unison ! Glory to God in man's death had 
not been strange, for it is right and reasonable that 
sin should suffer. But peace on earth, at the price 
of the blood of Him who was Jehovah's fellow — 
peace on earth purchased by the agonies and the 
death of the Lamb of God — good-will toward men 
made sure by the sufferings of an almighty Substi- 
tute — that was the most amazing topic — the most 
entrancing song of the angels. 

And hast thou learned, my soul, at least to lisp 
it ? On earth there is peace. The Prince of Peace 
bestows it. Dost thou enjoy it? There is "good- 
will toward men." Dost thou believe it ? or is God 
still viewed as a hard taskmaster, giving with re- 



UNBELIEF DETECTED. 41 

luctance, and delighting rather to withhold ? It is 
just at this point that the evil heart of unbelief is 
often unmasked ; here even the believer is made 
painfully aware that the great controversy which 
began when Adam believed the tempter and denied 
the word of his God, is not yet adjusted. Most of 
our misery here below may be traced up to the 
evil heart of unbelief as its fountain, and happy 
they to whom it is given to believe ; in whom faith 
works by love, and purifies the heart, and over- 
comes the world, because it receives and rests upon 
Christ. 

And to urge the soul forward in that direction, 
meditate on what it is to doubt the Word of the 
Eternal. It is to imitate the tempter — to make 
God a liar — not merely to place a creature beside 
him, but to lift that creature into the throne ! Surely 
the soul should recoil with horror from such impiety ; 
and yet that is habitually done by the evil heart of 
unbelief. 

THE PROOF. 

" As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: 
turn ye. turn ve, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, 
house of Israeli* " — Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 

THE PRAYER. 

44 Grant, my God, this one request: 
be thy love alone 
My ample portion — here I rest, 
For heaven is in the boon." 



U IN DUE TIME CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY." — #0771. V. 6. 

NOT for the virtuous : In God's eye there are 
none such, for all " are become filthy." Not 
for the penitent : For " Christ is exalted a Prince 
and a Saviour to grant repentance," and none can 
possess it till they come to Christ to obtain it. Not 
for the reformed : For in God's estimation there is 
no valid reformation till men be in Christ, and be- 
come new creatures under the converting power of 
the Spirit. Not even for believers: For "faith is 
itself a gift of God," and cannot be the procuring 
cause of his favor. 

" For the ungodly " then : For sinners, even the 
chief — for those who are by nature the children of 
wrath, or dead in trespasses and in sin — for these 
did the Redeemer die ; and this is the glorious gos- 
pel of the grace of God — Salvation for the chief 
of sinners. Man would be satisfied were he per- 
mitted to think that his tears at least, or his sighs, 
and his contrition, had some share in procuring the 
favor of his God ; but that is only a portion of " the 
smoke from the abyss." The sighs, and tears, and 
contrition of a sinner are all tainted by sin, and they 
can, therefore, obtain from God only condemnation. 
In his wisdom and compassion, then, these are the 



THE SIIEET ANCHOR. 43 

terms of the Gospel : " When we were without 
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" — 
for those who were without God in the world, who 
were aliens from hope, and who had in themselves 
no portion but sin, no heritage but despair. And 
this is the sheet anchor of the self-condemned. Here 
is the divine method of meeting the law's demands, of 
satisfying the challenges of conscience, and teaching 
us to join in the noble anthem, " Wl i0 shall lay any 
thing to the charge of God's elect?" Rejoice, then, 
and be exceeding glad, my soul, for here are the 
good news — Christ died for the ungodly. Hold up 
the hands which hang down, for Christ died for sin- 
ners, even the chief — for the ungodly to make them 
godly — for sinners to make them saints. 

THE PROOF. 

" Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all 
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works." — Titus ii. 14. 

THE REJOICING. 

" Not to the terrors of the Lord, 
The tempest, fire, and smoke; 
Not to the thunder of that word 
Which God on Sinai spoke — 

"But we are come to Zion's hill, 
The city of our God, 
Where milder words declare his will, 
And spread his love abroad." 



ton ^MrffttttHng. 



"GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO 

every creature." — Mark xvi. 15. 

WHO would limit the good news from God to 
man ? Who would circumscribe the outflow- 
ing of divine love? Who would monopolize the 
antidote to misery ? Who would fence round the 
fountain open for sin ? Barbarian, Scythian, bond 
and free, all need the healing power; and let them 
enjoy it freely as the wind or the sunlight of heaven. 
Man may fetter what Jehovah makes free. Man 
may limit to a caste, a tribe, a sect, what the only 
wise God commanded to be spread wherever there 
are sinners to be saved, or sorrows to be soothed ; 
but that is because man is prone to oppose the man- 
date of his God. Come, then, my soul, and freely 
rejoice in what thy God so freely offers. Beware, 
lest thou place limits where God places none ; in 
that thou wilt only mar thy peace, by marring God's 
Gospel. True, many are called, while few find the 
narrow way ; but that is because men will hot come 
to Christ, that they may have life. Come, then, to 
the fountain, and there rejoice in the loving-kindness 
of the Lord. And while you draw nigh, be en- 
couraged by the thought that as the Saviour was 
condemned in the believer's behalf, they that be- 
lieve need fear no evil — the Holy One cannot con- 



TUB FIRM FOUNDATION. 45 

demn both the sinner and the substitute. He cannot 
exact payment of the same debt twice ; and that is 
the impregnable principle on which the hopes of the 
believer repose. Every form of human religion is 
founded on some fiction — Romanism, Islamism, Hin- 
duism — all that man has invented is built upon 
something in man — his sufferings, his righteousness, 
his prayers. The Saviour alone has based his re- 
ligion upon the justice of God, and there the soul is 
safe, for the very holiness and truth of Jehovah are 
now upon its side. And upon our side for what? 
Perhaps to allure man into the wilderness ; but why ? 
Is it to destroy him, as natural conscience is prone to 
suggest? Nay, it is to speak words to our heart — 
to give us vineyards from the very wilderness, and 
make even the valley of Achor a door of hope. 

THE PROOF. 

" The hope of the gospel, .... was preached to every creatiirt 
which is under heaven." — Col. i. 23. 

THE HYMN. 

" Great God ! the treasures of thy love 
Are everlasting mines: 
Deep as our boundless miseries, 
And countless as our sins. 

" The world were sunless if that love 
Were not in Christ revealed; 
But when in him we own thy power, 
Thou art a sun and shield." 



t Jtlmijj]]tg §xamim. 



"for the mountains shall depart, and the hills rb 
removed; rut my kindness shall not depart from thee, 
neither shall the covenant of my peace re removed, 

SAITH THE LORD THAT HATH MEKCY ON THEE." — Jsaiak liv. 10. 

rpiIE very word which commanded the world to be, 
-L is the foundation of a sinner's hope. He who 
hung the earth upon nothing — who weighs the hills 
in scales, and the mountains in a balance — who can 
measure the ocean in the hollow of his hand, or take 
up the isles as a very little thing — has spoken the 
word, and on that word the believer reposes. That 
is his munition of rocks : he dwells in safety there 
beyond the reach of woe. Jehovah must change, ere 
the believer be cast off. 

And hear how the Almighty Promiser gives assur- 
ance upon assurance that the believer is thus safe. 
What so stable as the mountains? what so abiding 
as the hills ? Yet these are transient ani shadowy 
things, compared with the foundation of a sinner's 
hope — they may pass away, but the word of the 
Lord endureth for ever. The kindness of God is 
thus guaranteed by line upon line. It is a covenant 
of peace which he has made ; and when we take hold 
of that, joy is sown for the righteous, and gladness 
for the upright in heart. The Lord God is a sun 
and shield, he will give grace and glory ; yea, " The 
Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer ; 



out? hope. 47 

my God, my strength, in whom I will trust ; m\ 
buckler, the horn of my salvation, and my higk 
tower." What, then, need disturb that soul's sere 
nity, or what can endanger its safety ? Is it not 
more than a conqueror, through him that loved us i 
Could we learn the lesson of resting simply on th& 
truth of God, unshaken by trials, unmoved by pro- 
vidences, and confiding exclusively in grace, the very 
God of Peace would see his image reflected from 
our souls again. He would dwell in us, and walk 
in us, and rank us among his sons and daughters. 
He might lead us through trial after trial, and the 
dark valley at the last must be assuredly trod. But 
if He be there — and we have the assurance that 
he is with the believing soul — what evil need we 
fear, or what enemy need trouble us ? 

THE PROOF. 

" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on 
thee: because he trusteth in thee." — Isaiah xxvi. 3. 



THE HYMN. 

" Firm as his throne his covenant stands, 
Though earth and sky depart; 
No change, no want, no woe to those 
Graved on the Saviour's heart. 

" I long for peace, and Christ is that: 

For hope — its radiance beams 

In him in whom the Father's love 

On drooping mortals gleams." 



%\t Wn iff i\t $ii\tx. 

"NO MAN COMETH TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME." — John xiv. 6. 

I CAN draw near by the blood of calves and of 
goats, exclaimed the Jew, who could not pene- 
trate further than the letter of his religion. I can 
draw near with a mangled and mutilated body, ex- 
claims the Hindu, gasping out his life in the frantic 
attempt to appease his bloody god. I can approach 
in the strength of an incantation, or by means of my 
fetish, rejoins the embruted African. My penance, 
my fasting, my self-inflicted anguish, will open the 
way for me, re-echoes the deluded Romanist. My 
sound creed will throw open a path for me into the 
presence of God, is the whisper of the formalist, or 
the man who thinks there can be religion without 
conversion, or salvation without a new heart. But 
he who has the key of David, who opens and no 
man shuts, and shuts and no man opens, comes 
among these deluded ones and says, " I am the 
way, the truth, and the life ; no man cometh to the 
Father but by me." 

It is exclusive. There is absolutely none other. 
Even to attempt to find another is sin ; it is dis- 
honoring to the Son of God. 

It is a blood-marked way. For it was opened 
through the rent vail of a Mediator's flesh. 

It is a living way. The dead cannot walk there. 



TIIK PATH OF ITOI.IXKS8. 49 

The first step in it is taken when the life-giving 
Spirit turns our feet into the way of peace. 

It is a little-frequented way. " Few there be that 
hnd it." The invitation is free to all ; but as men 
must drop the love of sin when they enter on that 
path, it is shunned by countless myriads. Yet it is a 
way in which men walk with God — a way which 
leads to something better than the city of refuge, 
even the city of our God. It is a path in which our 
companions are all they that fear Him, or have 
turned their faces Zionward, and in which the Spirit 
of God is our guide. He is like a voice behind us 
saying, " This is the way, walk ye in it." 

And such being the way, am I walking there ? 
" It shall be called the way of holiness ; the unclean 
shall not pass over it ; " and is that verified in me ? 
Have I brought my sins into the holy path, or did 
I through grace forsake them at the entrance ? 

THE FROOF. 

"And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be 
called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.' — 
Isaiah xxxv. 8. 

the resolution. 

u Lord, in the strength thou has given, 
Or pledged thy sure word to bestow, 
I will climb the steep pathway to heaven, 
And exult in thy grace as I go." 



3 a alu na fib*. 

"look unto me and be ye sated, all the ends of the 

EARTH! FOR I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE." — haioh 

xlv. 22. 

HAD it been said, Torture yourselves and be 
saved, all would have understood, and many 
would have obeyed. Or had it been said, Give the 
fruit of thy body for the sin of thy soul, that also 
would have been plain, and, revolting as it is, many 
would have hastened to present the offering. Or had 
it been said, Go on some weary pilgrimage, compass 
sea and land, climb rugged ascents upon your bare 
and bended knees, and be saved ; all would again 
have understood the saying. Self-righteousness 
would have been gratified, and then at all hazards, 
men would have complied. 

But merely to " look and be saved," is what man 
cannot comprehend. " Heaven's easy, artless plan," 
of suspending eternal life, and the favor of God, on a 
thing so simple, or so unearthly, transcends the wis- 
dom of man, and the difficulty is increased when it is 
said, " Look, ye blind," as if salvation involved at 
once impossibilities and contradictions. 

But, O my soul, let us exalt God's name together, 
because our salvation is so easy and so simple. u Look 
and live." " Come unto me and live." " Believe 
and live " — behold the first principle of the Christian 
faith — a principle which, like the first link in a per- 



REST FOR THE WKAUY. 51 

feet chain, draws all the others after it. Rejoice that 
it is not some mighty sacrifice, but simply a look 
of faith, that God our Saviour asks; and then look 
ing to him as our " God, besides whom there is 
none else,'* you may delight in the abundance of 
peace. 

And do not say, " I cannot look ; " as if God were 
mocking us when he invites us to draw nigh. Do not 
plead inability ; as if God did not know, or did not 
pity our helplessness. Surely you can come, or you 
can look, as a sinner! Surely you can cast yourself 
upon His mercy as one of the ungodly. That is your 
character, as God describes it. To you, in that cha- 
racter, is this salvation sent. Away, then, with all 
doubts, all delays and hesitation, that the soul may 
at once be saved and blessed. 

THE PROOF. 

" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest." — Matt. xi. 28. 

THE COUNSEL. 

" Behold, ray soul, with beaming eye, 

The throne where thy Redeemer stands, 
Thv glorious Advocate on high, 
\Vith costly incense in his hands. 

M All, all is free as nir to thee, 
Just look and be forgiven ; 
Then pardon, peace, 'the peace of God,' 
Shall shed the light of heaven." 



%\t Jtonniatu* of 1§mt. 

"thou hast ascended on high, thou hast LED CAPTIVI1T 
captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the 
rebellious also, that the lord god might dwell among 
them." — Psalm Ixviii. 18. 

NO man can be truly happy but the believer in 
Jesus; for surely no man can be happy while 
he lies under the load of unpardoned sin, and there- 
fore under the wrath of the Holy One. 

But when sin is pardoned, and God our friend, 
how jubilant may the soul become — how full, how 
perfect is its peace ; how rich its portion, how ex- 
haustless its joy ! Light is now sown for the right- 
eous, and gladness for the upright in heart. The 
Prince of Peace is at once that soul's Saviour and its 
portion. It may walk with " the very God of peace." 
It may enjoy "the peace of God which passeth all 
understanding;" or to say all in one, "the kingdom 
of God is within it ; " and that is " righteousness, 
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." He who 
led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, 
even for the rebellious, has taught them to walk with 
God again. The Lord God is to dwell in them, and 
walk in them. He is to be their God, and they are 
to be his sons and daughters. 

But the gifts which the Prince of Peace thus 
received for men are countless. Does the believer 
veer and change ? The unchanging one is now his 



"JOY IN GOD." 53 

portion. Does he sin ? The God of pardons blots 
out iniquity. Does the believer pray ? God hears 
and answers. Is the believer afraid ? His God 
defends. Is he bereaved and sad ? His God com- 
forts. Is the believer poor? He who led captivity 
captive imparts unsearchable riches. In short, his 
God is a little sanctuary to him. He hides the be- 
liever in the hollow of his hand, and even his dying 
chamber may be turned into the ante-room of glory. 
Why, then, should the believer in Jesus be downcast 
and gloomy ? Why should he hang down his head 
like a bulrush ? Why act as if his God were not the 
Prince of Peace ? Away, my soul, with that evil 
report against the truth. The Lord will no more 
forget his people, than a mother will forget the infant 
of her love. Arise, then, from the dust. Look up 
to the Sun of Righteousness. Reflect some rays of 
his brightness ; walk like a child of the light, and so 
win others to walk with thee. 



THE PROOF. 

" Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not 
have compassion on the son of her womb ? yea, they may forget 
yet will I not forget thee." — Isaiah xlix. 15. 



THE HYMN. 

" As countless as the midnight stars 
Bright as the mid-day sun, 
And sure as is Jehovah's oath, 
Are the joys our Captain won." 

E* 



t f rite uf gehmptijim. 

'* RETURN UNTO ME, FOR I HAVE REDEEMED THEE."' — haiok 

xliv. 22. 

SUCH is the gracious invitation of God to his wan- 
dering people. On the right hand and on the 
left they forsake his ways. The veriest trifle suc- 
ceeds in enticing them away from him. Upon every 
high mountain, and under every green tree, they sin 
against their God. But though they forget him, his 
affections are still set on them — he commands them, 
nay, He entreats them to return. His compassion is 
moved at their self-destruction, and by mercy upon 
mercy he would regain their confidence and their 
heart. And O, mark, my soul, the ground on which 
God rests his plea — " Return for I have re- 
deemed thee." Not creation — that had long ago 
failed to bind the creature to the Creator. Not pro- 
vidence — that also was unavailing, for man snatched 
at the gift, and neglected the Giver. But Redemp- 
tion — that supplied the motives which were destined 
to win back man's wayward heart, or to prove that it 
could not be won. The precious blood of Christ, as 
the price of redemption ; his agonies, and tears, and 
death, as the means of working it out; his love, 
which many waters could not quench, nor universal 
enmity subdue ; those are the moral powers ap- 
pointed to sway man's soul; and swayed by these, 



PKRSONAL SALVATION. 55 

the soul should return to its God to rejoice in the 
liberty which the Son bestows. 

But has my heart yielded to that appeal, or am I 
still stout-hearted and far from righteousness? Am 
I redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, or do I 
rather trample upon the blood of the covenant, and 
count it an unholy thing? Blessed are they who 
listen to that appeal ! They shall be still praising 
God. Who is he that shall harm them ? Of them 
Jehovah has said, " This people have I formed foi 
myself, they shall show forth my praise. ,, The 
longer that I strive to "work out my own salvation,'' 
according to the Word of God, I feel the more need 
to make sure that that salvation is personal — that it 
is "my own." May the Spirit of all grace teach me 
to say, as the Word of God warrants — "The Lord 
is my shepherd," and " Christ loved me, and gave 
himself for me." 

THE PROOF. 

" Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with cor 
ruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation 
received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious 
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." — 
1 Pet. i. 18, 19. 

THE COUNSEL. 

u Wretched, ruined, helpless soul, 
To a Saviour's blood apply, 
He alone can make thee whole; 
Fly to Jesus, sinner, fly." 



6oU f&riti in Un $in. 

" I COUNSEL THEE TO BUT OF ME GOLD TRIED i» TITB 

fire." — Rev. iii. 18. 

IT is the delusive thought of all men by nature as 
well as of the lukewarm Laodiceans, that they 
are rich, and increased in goods, and in need of 
nothing. They are proud of their very rags, and 
would offer to God, as a price for his favor, the very 
thing which he declares that he hates. But the God 
of the gospel offers the unsearchable riches — the 
incorruptible inheritance — the crown of glory which 
fadeth not away. It is true, we read, " I counsel 
thee to buy," but no less true that it is " without 
money and without price." -All is a gift — a free 
gift — an unspeakable gift from God to man. There 
is rest to the weary. There is peace to the troubled. 
There is health to the diseased. There is hope for 
the despairing. There is life for the dead ; and O, 
my soul, is not that as refreshing to the soul as Elim 
and its palm trees to the wanderers in the desert? 
Have we not here vineyards from the wilderness ? 
May we not dig up wells in this valley of Baca, or 
pluck leaves from the tree which is for the healing of 
the nations ? There is no want to them that fear 
God. They have gold tried in the fire, and far 
more than all the gold of Ophir could buy. 

The eye rejoices to wander over the guen earth, 



THE VOICE OF THE CROSS. 57 

and remember that it is the Lord's, and the fulness 
thereof. It delights to gaze upon the midnight sky, 
and meditate on the wonders which are there be- 
held — the mighty, silent procession of all those in- 
numerable orbs. It looks upon the sea sleeping 
in its beauty, or swelling in its mightiness — now 
the emblem of Him who is love — and now of 
Him who will " by no means clear." But none 
of these things, neither earth, nor sky, nor ocean, 
can tell us aught of grace, of pardon, or of mercy. 
They utter no voice in reply to the question " How 
shall man be just before his God?" For an an- 
swer to that, we must apply to the cross, and 
blessed are they who have ears to hear, and & 
heart to understand its language. 

THE PROOF. 

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." — 2 Cor. 
Lx. 15 

THE INVITATION. 

u Come all ye pining, hungry poor, 
The Saviour's bounty taste; 
Behold a never-failing store, 
For every aching breast. 

" No price is asked — none ye can briujj - • 
Free like the air of heaven, 
And gentle as the evening dew, 
Grace bids you be forgiven." 



tan anli 6l0tg. 

"iIE SHALL. BRING FORTH THE HEADSTONE WITH SHOUTINGS 
OF GRACE, GRACE UNTO IT." — Ztcll. iv. 7. 

GRACE — or the free favor of God — lays the 
foundation of hope to man. Grace rears the 
structure, and watches over it at every stage of its 
progress. Were it not so, it would speedily crumble, 
like some of the structures reared by man, into pre- 
mature decay. And when the fabric shall be com- 
pleted — when the copestone has been put on, and all 
made perfect and complete according to the will of 
God, the acclamation will still be — Grace! grace! 
The wise Master-Builder thus presides over the 
whole spiritual temple ; and the beauty of holiness 
is in consequence the ornament which signalizes the 
structure. 

The sure foundation laid in Zion, then, is laid by 
grace. All who build on it are guided by grace; 
and when the house not made with hands becomes the 
home of the ransomed, grace will admit us there, and 
hand us over to glory. 

Now, art thou, my soul, in preparation for that 
dwelling-place of glory ? Hast thou been rescued 
by grace from the grasp of sin ? Are thy hopes 
built on the exclusive foundation — that which God 
has laid — u that rock which is Christ ? " Then re- 
ioice in the Lord alway ; and again, I say rejoice. 






SALVATION NOW. b ( J 

To his people he will speak peace, but let them 
not return again to foolishness. Clothed in his own 
righteousness, and upheld by his right arm, they 
need not fear though ten thousand were set round 
about against them. The Lord will help, and that 
right early. 

Right early : — not to-morrow — before to-morrow 
I may be laid out for the grave. Not after I have 
repented — before I can repent, I must come to 
Him who grants repentance. Not after I have 
reformed what is wrong, and rectified what God 
condemns in my conduct. That reformation will 
never be effectual ; it will reach only to the hand, 
and never touch the heart, until I return to my God 
as he invites. Right early, then — now and without 
one hour's delay, I will wait on God, that He may 
renew my strength. 

THE PROOF. 

44 By grace ye are saved." — Era. ii. 5. 

THE HYMN. 

• Thy grace my wayward heart first won; 

Thy grace still holds me fast; 
Thv grace completes the work begun, 
And guides me home at last. 

44 How baseless are our dreams of worth 
While godless all our wavo.' 
0, can pollution proudly meet, 
The Judg3's flume-bright gaze?" 



" THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST 

OUR lord." — Romans vi. 23. 

HOW earnest is the God of the Bible that sin- 
ners should be assured that all we enjoy is 
a gift from Him ! Man is constantly claiming ; God 
as constantly sets that claim aside, and offers all as a 
gift. Is it received ? Then God is glorified, and 
self-ruined man is laid in the dust. Eternal life is 
a gift. Faith is a gift. The Holy Spirit is a gift. 
The Saviour is God's unspeakable gift. The pri- 
vilege of suffering for His sake is a gift. Mercy is a 
gift. Peace is a gift. Pardon at last, as well as all 
that fits us to enjoy it, is a gift ; and, by the constant 
repetition of that truth, the pride of the self-righteous 
soul is reproved ; the claims of men for God's favor 
are disowned : they must submit to be saved by 
grace, or never saved at all. 

Now, when the soul clearly discerns that truth, 
it begins, for the first time, to be happy. As long 
as the idea of merit, or deserving the favor of God, 
haunts the soul, it is wretched, and harassed by legal 
fear. It never can be sure that it has done enough, 
or repented enough, or suffered enough. But when 
the gift of God is received — when man perceives 
that the only thing he can deserve, or the only 
wages he can earn, is death — pride is hidden from 



THE HEART MADE GLAD. G 1 

him, and he begins to rejoice in the unspeakable 
gift. Kejoice then, O my soul, that eternal life is 
to be obtained for the taking. God offers : Dost 
thou welcome? Christ has purchased — grace be- 
stows : Art thou waiting to receive ? Then go in 
peace, thy faith has made thee whole. The second 
death has no more power over thee ; the original 
curse is repealed — or rather, it is exhausted by 
the Saviour for thee ; and thy blessedness, now and 
for ever, should be, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and 
have no confidence in self. 

How strange were the world to continue in dark- 
ness after the sun has risen ! How strange were 
the earth to continue congealed, and the forests 
leafless, after the genial suns of spring and sum- 
mer bid them put on their beauty ! And can it 
be less strange for the soul, visited, redeemed, and 
saved by the Son of God, to walk only in sack- 
cloth — in the gloom of Sinai, not the sunshine of 
Zion! 

THE PROOF. 

" My peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto 
you." — John xiv. 27. 

THE ASSURANCE. 

" Poor sinful, thirsty, fainting souls, 
Are freely welcome here ; 
Salvation, like a river, rolls 
Abundant, broad, and clear." 



t 'gtinp si 'gin. 



"we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood 
have we hid ourselves." — Isaiah xxviii. 15. 

IS it not a lie to think that we can resist Omni- 
potence, and prosper? Is it not a lie to sup- 
pose that we can rush upon the bosses of Jehovah's 
buckler, and escape unscathed ? Is it not a lie, 
to act as if what the Holy One pronounces to be 
" filthy rags " could suffice for a protection in the 
day when he arises to judgment ? Is it not a lie, 
to think that the creature can satisfy the soul, 
though we feel that it melts away while we try to 
grasp it? Is it not a lie, to suppose that sin can 
afford pleasure to the soul, while it draws down the 
wrath of God, and ripens us for everlasting burn- 
ings ? Yet these, and such as these, are the delu- 
sions to which men cling : to these they flee, in 
the hope that they can find a refuge there from 
Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire. A con- 
verted Chinese once said that he might as well 
seek shelter from a thunderbolt behind his ow r n 
shadow, as from the justice of God behind his own 
righteousness ; and will not that man rise up in 
judgment against those who seek an asylum in 
lies ? 

But bless the Lord, O my soul ! He who is the 
Truth has been here. He came to withdraw us 



"tiie truth." G3 

from our refuges of lies, by showing how they crum- 
ble above us, and threaten to bury us in their ruins. 
He answered the question, What is truth? by the 
announcement, " I am the Truth ; " the truth con- 
cerning God — the truth concerning man — and the 
truth concerning the mode of making them walk 
together like those who are agreed. Hast thou 
then, my soul, learned that truth, and has it 
made thee free ? Are the devices of the evil heart, 
and of the father of lies, now an abomination to 
thee? Then the Spirit of truth has led thee to 
the God of truth. No refuge of lies will satisfy 
thee. The Rock that is higher than we will be 
thy confidence, and " a man shall be a hiding-place 
from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, like 
rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of 
a great rock in a weary land." 



THE PROOF. 



" When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into 
all truth." —John xvi. 13. 



THE HYMN. 



" Enamored of lies, see the victim of sin 
Rush on through delusion to death; 
But Jesus, ■ The Truth/ tears these rufuges down, 
To shed heaven's light on our path." 



laitfe. 



"the just shall live by faith." — Romans i. 17. 

HOW mighty, yet how weak, is faith ! How 
mysterious, yet how simple ! How prized 
in the religion of God ! How undervalued or per- 
verted in that of man ! 

What is its province ? What is the secret of 
its power ? Has it any inherent virtue ? How 
does it save ? How does it sanctify ? How does 
it overcome the world ? What secret spell does 
faith possess, when all these things are ascribed to 
it? The one answer to all these questions is, that 
faith receives Christ; and hence all its power. In 
itself it is nothing — it can do nothing; but when 
it welcomes or embraces the Lord, then it can do 
all things. It can lead to the fountain opened for 
sin. It can purify the heart. It can overcome the 
world. With the Spirit of God for its Author — 
with the Word of God for its foundation — with 
Christ for the great object to which it clings — with 
the salvation of the soul for its end — faith leads 
us in triumph along the narrow way. It is the 
evidence of things not seen. It is the substance 
of things hoped for. It puts on the Saviour's 
righteousness, and is safe. It tdaches the soul in 
trial to say, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust 
in Him." It points, amid danger, to Him who is 



THE HIDING-PLACE. CJ) 

our hiding-place from the storm, and it tells, in the 
day of prosperity, of the Sun of Righteousness. In 
a word, faith receives and rests on Christ. Hence 
its more than mortal power ; hence its triumphs ; 
hence it has led many to the stake amid songs of 
joy. Or, far more than that, hence it obtains from 
God, as an empty hand held out obtains an alms, 
the righteousness which justifies — the blood which 
cleanses — the peace which is the foretaste of hea- 
ven. The language of faith is, " I can do all 
things through Christ which strengthened me" — 
" I will not fear though ten thousand be set round 
about against me" — " The name of the Lord is a 
strong tower," I flee thither and am safe, and 
if my faith " work by love," all is well — " All 
things are possible; only believe" — " Lord, I be- 
lieve; help thou mine unbelief" — "Lord, increase 
our faith " — Should not these be the cherished 
sentiments of every self-loving soul ? 

THE PROOF. 

" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 
things net seen." — Heb. xi. 1. 

THE HYMN. 

" Faith clings to an Almighty arm, 
Faith pleads Almighty grace; 
And resting there, rejoices 
In God enr Righteousness." 



l^flbsjl ant Qi^UaMMS. 

<4 THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." — Jer. XXilL 6. 

TO this name of the Lord faith rejoices to cling, 
as the ivy clings to the wall, or the vine-tree 
to the prop which sustains it. " Wherewithal shall 
we appear before God ? " is the question which 
the soul begins to agitate as soon as the Spirit 
makes it alive to eternal realities ; and, in agitat- 
ing that question, it finds no 'solid resting-place 
until it can present something perfect to the eye of 
the Judge. But where shall that be found ? The 
earth says, It is not in me ; the deep proclaims, 
It is not in me. It cannot be gotten for silver, nor 
purchased for gold. But when all else fails ; or, 
when " miserable comforters are ye all," is found 
written on all that is mortal, The Lord our 
Righteousness is revealed ; and to Him faith 
clings, as the drowning cling to the cable which 
is thrown to save them. We are made the right- 
eousness of God in Him, while He is made sin for 
us ; and by that blessed exchange, the sinner is 
restored to the favoi of God. For justification, 
he is complete in Christ — he is accepted in the 
beloved ; and proceeds in the path of personal 
holiness, to prepare to be presented unto God with- 
out spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. 

But why are we debarred from pleading our 



A COMPLETE SALVATION. G7 

own righteousness ? Because it is polluted. And 
why are we invited to make mention of Christ's 
righteousness, even of it only? Because it only is 
perfect and complete. God cannot refuse to justify 
us through it, because it is His own; and there- 
fore, clothed in that, the believer stands in the 
presence of the Heart-searcher rejoicing in Christ 
Jesus, and praising God for a complete salvation. 

Is it the case then, O my soul, that thou canst 
plead the righteousness of Christ ? Is that the 
rock of thy salvation — the foundation of thy hope — 
in the prospect of meeting God? Then the Spirit, 
the glorifier of Jesus, is thy Teacher ; and tby 
language may humbly be, " Who shall lay any 
thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God 
that justifies ; who is he that condemns ? It is 
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again : " 
and " he died for our sins, and rose for our justi- 
fication." 

THE PROOF. 

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin 
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.'* — 
2 Cor. v. 21. 

Tit E PLEA. 

" I plead the merits of the Son, 

Who died for sinners on the tree; 
I plead His righteousness alone — 
put the spotless robe on me." 



%\t |Uto jimt. 



"MARVEL NOT THAT I SAID UNTO THEE, YE MUST BE BOR2? 

again." — John lii. 7. 

MARVEL at it no more than to be told that 
the birds of the air cannot live in the depths 
of the ocean, nor the fishes of the deep in the blue 
sky above us. Man was created to work for God's 
eternal favor, and win it : he must have a new 
nature before he will simply believe for it. Man 
was created at first for the love of God : he is now 
enmity against him ; and must have a new nature 
ere he can love Him again. Man was created for 
the service of God, and found his delight therein : 
that service is now a weariness to him ; and new 
likings must be created ere he can delight in God's 
service any more. Hence the Saviour's word, "' Ye 
must be born again ; " hence the assurance, that 
" unless we be converted, and become like little 
children, we cannot see the kingdom of God ; " and 
hence the intimation, that " if any man be in Christ, 
he is a new creature ; old things have passed away, 
and all things have become new." 

Now, is it true, my soul, that this all-decisive 
change has come over thee ? Hast thou felt and 
submitted to the Spirit's new creative energy? If 
thou canst not name the day, or the occasion when 
that took place, art thou sure of the fact? Art 



HEIRS OF GOD. GO 

thou practising no deception on thyself? Art tliou 
honestly willing to know the truth of thy condi- 
tion ? And hast thou reason to be assured that 
thou art indeed alive unto God ? Then walk in 
the Spirit, and cherish the things of the Spirit. As 
thou hast borne the image of the first Adam, see 
that thou bear the image of the second. Being 
born of God, O live like the child of a king, and 
the heir of a kingdom, and thus be blessed in thy 
deeds. 

But O how prone men are to be self-satisfied ! 
Though the Saviour has placed the great truth of 
regeneration or conversion on the very frontier of 
his kingdom, and said, with the deepest emphasis 
that words can convey, that there is no other mode 
of ingress, many think that they are in the king- 
dom, while yet they never thought of conversion ; 
they either ignore, or pervert, or deny regenera- 
tion. But blessed are all they who are born of the 
Spirit, or born of God through the incorruptible 
seed. They who are so shall never be moved. 

THE PROOF. 

41 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk 
in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." — 
Ezsk. xxxv : . 27. 

THE HYMN. 

" The new-creating Spirit's power 
Dispels the reign of death, 
And guides the soul that knew not God 
Along the heaven ward path. 1 ' 



U THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, 
AND THEY SHALL MOURN FOR HIM AS ONE MOURNETH FOR 
HIS ONLY SON, AND SHALL BE IN BITTERNESS FOR HIM, AS 
ONE THAT IS IN BITTERNESS FOR HIS FIRSTBORN." — Zech. 

xii. 10. 

COUNTLESS crowds never do so. Far from 
feeling the poignant sorrow which the Holy 
Spirit here describes, sin occasions no regret, and 
the Saviour's anguish no lamentation. Nay, men 
are busy piercing him afresh, as far as they have 
the power. His love unto death is unheeded. His 
compassion for the lost and the wretched awakens 
no corresponding emotion. Men are in spirit ready 
to cry as of old, " Away with him ; crucify him, 
crucify him." 

But not so all. The Spirit of grace and of 
supplications is poured out on some. They then 
discover what it is to have been sharers in the 
guilt of crucifying the Saviour, and of adding to 
the poignancy of his dying agonies. They now 
understand the strong language of the Spirit : 
" They shall be in bitterness for him as one is 
in bitterness for his firstborn," and feel that the 
dust is their becoming bed, or sackcloth their be- 
coming garment. 

O my soul, there is an eye upon thee which 
looks thee through and through. Conscience may 
be quick, but the glance of that eye is keener stilh 



" UNCLEAN, UNCLEAN." 71 

It discovers whether thou hast ever mourned for a 
Saviour's agony, or whether thou art still as way- 
ward as ever. How, then, is it with thee? Hast 
thou felt what it is to be a sinner? Hast thou 
seen the enormity of sin as committed against Him 
whose love was boundless, and reached even to 
thee ? Then rejoice that some even of his cruci- 
fiers were washed in the blood which they helped 
to shed, when an apostle preached salvation to them 
through Him whom they had crucified and slain. 
Away with all thy sins to Him. Look on Him 
whom thou hast pierced ; and then, with godly 
sorrow, lay the hand on the mouth, and the mouth 
in the dust, crying out, Unclean, unclean. The 
more lowly thy bed, w r hen the humility is such as 
the Spirit of God produces, the brighter may be 
thy hopes, and the higher will thy exaltation be. 
There are many now in glory who were once 
ashamed even to look to the place where God's 
honor dwells. 

THE PROOF. 

" For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not fcc 
be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." - 
2 Cor. vii. 10. 

THE PRAYER. 

" strike this rock, that tears at length may flow, 
For sins committed against love like thine; 
Come, Spirit, breathe — O lay the rebel low, 
Till prostrate homage own* thy power divine/* 



JtSttS. 

"THOU SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS, FOR HE SH.U.I* &ATT 
HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS." — Matt. i. 21. 

AN infinite antidote for an infinite misery' — & 
divine remedy for a mortal disease — a Sa- 
viour for the lost — a blessing for the accursed — 
life for the dying or the dead — pardon for the 
condemned — hope for the despairing — the image 
of God for those whom sin has mutilated and 
marred, and light for them that sit in darkness; — 
all these are secured for us by Him whose name is 
Jesus. And, O God, our Saviour, what shall we 
render unto thee for the great things thus accom- 
plished for us ! Surely it is our reasonable service 
to dedicate ourselves, souls and bodies, to thy glory. 
Hast thou purchased freedom ? Then shall we turn 
/t into licentiousness ? 

Hast thou made an end of transgression ? Then 
shall we go on to pile sin upon sin ? 

Hast thou imparted spiritual health ? And shall 
we prolong or augment the disease ? 

Hast thou rolled away the condemnation ? Then 
shall we gather clouds and thick darkness again 
around the soul ? 

Is the light of God's countenance shining on us 
again ? Then shall we extinguish that light, and 
walk in darkness still ? 



THE TRUE HARMONY. 73 

Rather, may the Spirit of all grace be shed 
abroad upon our hearts, that holiness to the Lord 
may reign there — that the love of God may preside 
overall — and that the work of preparation for the 
everlasting glory may be advancing in the soul. 
Nor need there be one hour's delay as to the method 
by which that is to be accomplished. Again, and 
again, it should be made plain to man that his 
mind must be once more in harmony with God's 
before he can be blessed. The creature's will must 
be merged in the Creator's : from day to day that 
should be more and more the case ; and just in 
that proportion are men enjoying happiness on earth, 
or preparing for happiness in heaven. Here, then, 
is the anchorage of the soul — let the mind of God 
become the mind of man, and he need not fear 
though an host were encamped against him. 



THE PROOF. 

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am 
chief."— 1 Tim. i. 15. 



THE RESOLUTION. 

" Lord. 1 wait the promised grace; 
And when thou hast forgiven, 
Pardon shall lead to holiness — 
The upward path to heaven." 



%\t toss. 



" HAVING MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF TIIK 

cross."— Col. i. 20. 

THERE are more inscriptions on the cross of 
Jesus than the one which was written in 
Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin* Christ crucified 
is the wisdom of God, is one additional inscription 
read by the eye of faith. He is the wisdom of 
God, by making provision at once to punish sin 
and pardon it, at once to uphold justice in untar- 
nished purity, and to let mercy flow forth without 
restraint to man. 

And, Christ crucified is the power of God, is 
another inscription which faith can read upon the 
cross — the power of God in bringing those nigh 
who were before afar off, in lifting souls from the 
verge of hell to the vestibule of heaven, and super- 
seding enmity to the holy by love for the pure. 

Behold what sin is — That is another inscription 
legible by the eye of faith upon the cross. Nothing 
but the blood of Him who was Jehovah's fellow 
could atone for its guilt, or wash away its pollu- 
tion. How dark, then, the guilt, and how deep 
the malignity of the abominable thing. 

And, Behold the love of God! is another inscrip- 
tion still. He so loved the world that he gave his 
Son to die for us. 



THE SOUL S WORTH. ?0 

Or finally, See how precious is the soul, is an- 
other. Not corruptible things like silver and gold, 
but the life of one who was holy, harmless, unde- 
nted, and separate from sinners, was the ransom 
paid ; and who will gauge the preciousness of the 
soul, as it is thus valued by God ? 

Yet, O my soul, 1 have been undervaluing thee ; 
I have been ruining thee by sin, and regarding 
thee as of less value than some transient enjoy- 
ment, some fancied pleasure of an hour or a breath. 
And how am I to escape from this condemnation ? 
Just by clinging to the cross ; not to the wooden 
emblem which superstition presents, or upon which 
it doats, but to the crucified One, who made peace 
through the blood of the cross, who atoned for sin 
there, and taught the believer to glory only in the 
Lord, while he exclaims, " I determined not to 
know any thing among you save Jesus Christ, and 
him crucified." 

THE PROOF. 

" But God forbid that 1 should glory, save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and 
I into the world." — Gal. vi. 14. 

THE HYMN. 

" The glorious emblem of God's love 
Is now the death of sin; 
The cross conducts us to the crown — 
There all our hopes begin." 



%\t fifrhtg-flan. 



"A man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind, 

teSV A COVERT FROM THE TEMPEST ; AS RIVERS OF WATER IN 
A DRY PLACE; AS THE SHADOW OF A GREAT ROCK IN A 

weary land." — Isaiah xxxii. 2. 



H 



OW mysterious that announcement must have 
seemed to the carnal Jew, who neither 
understood nor cared for understanding his own 
religion ! That a man should shelter him from 
troubles, sudden and severe like the sweep of the 
tempest — what so incredible? That a man should 
refresh and gladden like rivers of water in Oriental 
lands — what so impossible ? Or, that a man should 
be a source of safety and of joy, like the shadow of a 
great rock in countries where trees are rare — that 
must have seemed as strange and unintelligible as 
speech in an unknown tongue. 

But to us who live in " the last times," all is 
transparently plain. A man, the man Christ Jesus, 
is now our hiding-place and shelter. When the 
floods come and the storms beat, we are as safe 
under his shadow as in a munition of rocks : he is 
our Rock, our fortress, and our high tower. "Im- 
manuel, God with us," solves that and a hundred 
difficulties besides. He who has seen the Son hao 
seen the Father also ; and glory to God is thus 
beheld in closest combination with peace and safety 
to the sons of men. 



FRUIT UNTO HOLINESS. 77 

Stand in awe, then, O my soul, and contemplate 
what God has wrought. Thou art exposed to the 
tempest of wrath — here is thy skreen. Thou 
dwellest in a dry parched land — here is the river 
which gladdens it. The sun which scorches others 
need inflict no damage upon thee. Nay, like a 
tree planted by the rivers of water, fruit unto 
holiness may be gathered from thee ; like willows 
by the water-courses, thou shouldst prosper. The 
early and lhe latter rain is made sure by the 
promise of Him who hung the bow in the clouds 
as a pledge of his faithfulness for ever, and who 
undertakes to be the hiding-place and shield of 
those who trust in his word. O trust, then, in 
Him, for " in the Lord there is everlasting strength." 
The very word which commanded the universe to 
be is the foundation of our hope. The truth of 
Him who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
ever, is our guide ; who, then, is he that can in- 
jure such a soul ? 



THE PROOF. 



hoi J he Tr° rd iS th iT n eeper; the Lord is th Y shad « upon thy ri£ht 



THE ASSURANCE. 



The Lord thy God's a sun and shield, 
He'll grace and glory give: 

Ami will withhold no good from them 
That uprightly do live." 



t Sinner's j&tt&s-ijiafe. 



44 HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS 
BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES: THE CHASTISEMENT OF OUR 
PEACE WAS UPON HIM ; AND WITH HIS STRIPES WE AKK 

healed." — Isaiah liii. 5. 

HOW blessed they who can thus appropriate the 
results of the Saviour's atonement ! He died 
the just for the unjust. He endured what they 
should have endured. The wrath of God for sin, 
the hiding of His countenance from the sinner, with 
all the woe to which sin can lead on earth — the 
Saviour bore when that good Shepherd laid down 
his life for the sheep. 

But thousands never derive any benefit from that 
amazing plan of substitution. It is to them only the 
perverted occasion of augmenting their guilt ; it be- 
comes a savor of death unto death. 

How blessed they, then, who can appropriate the 
benefits of Christ's atoning death — who can humbly 
say, " Christ loved me, and gave himself for me ! " 
He was wounded for our transgressions ; then divine 
justice will not wound me also. He was bruised for 
our iniquities ; then the just Gpd and the holy will 
not bruise me also. The chastisement of our peace 
was upon him ; and the holy God cannot punish me 
also, for that were to punish twice for the same trans- 
gression. By his stripes we are healed ; then I can- 
not die the second death, for Christ has tasted death 






MERCY FORSAKEN. 79 

for me, a believer in his name. It is thus that the 
believer is privileged to reason, and, O m}' soul, 
honor the Spirit, that He may thus teach thee. Let 
it be the business of thy earthly existence to make 
sure of a dwelling in the house not made with hands. 
Count every thing intrusive and impertinent which 
would hinder that work ; and to stimulate thee in it, 
think of those who have reached the limits of their 
threescore years and ten with no provision for eter- 
nity, nothing on which to die, but a mere peradven- 
ture. When they stood as little children by their 
mother's knee, they knew as much of their eternity 
and their prospects there, as they do now, when they 
are within an hour or a day of their decisive meeting 
with their Judge ! Now, can such men be wise? are 
they self-loving? Nay, they have forsaken their own 
mercies, and their case should warn us to " give dili- 
gence/' as God has commanded, to "make our call- 
ing and election sure." 

THE PROOF. 

u I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I 
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave him- 
self for me." — Gal. ii. 20. 



THE HYMN. 

" With Christ the Lord we died to sin, 
With Christ to life we rise — 



A life which, now begun on earth, 
Is perfect in the skies." 



%\t %\\txm\\ { st. 



"but if our gospel be hid, ir IS HID to titem that arb 
Lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the 
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of 
the glorious gospel of christ, who is the image of god, 

SHINE UNTO THEM/' — 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. 

A SAVOR of life unto life, or of death unto 
death : such is the alternative put solemnly 
before us by the God of the gospel, the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When welcomed, 
the gospel becomes a savor of life unto life — it 
brings life from the living God, and imparts it to 
us, teaching us to say, "I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me." But when it is rejected, the gospel 
becomes the perverted cause of the second death ; 
the soul is left to remediless woe for ever. " There 
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain 
fearful looking for of judgment." 

My soul, how is it with thee ? Hast thou wel- 
comed the gospel in spirit and in truth, or hast 
thou only fawned upon it, while in thy heart thou 
couldst trample upon it, and despise all its dowry of 
glories ? O do not forget that if the gospel seem 
a dark and a mysterious thing to thee, it is because 
thou art lost, God being witness. If its glories 
have not won thy love for the true God, it is 
because thou art a dupe of the god of this world. 
If God's last dispensation for the saving of sinners 



THE SIMI'LK GOSPKL. 8] 

have failed (o produce the desired effect in thee, 
then be not deceived, God is not mocked; what 
thou sowest thou must reap — either the light of 
the glorious gospel of Christ, or the blackness of 
darkness for ever; either the Son of God received 
and rested on, or everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord ; either an interest in Him of 
whom you read » fury is not in me," or "the fiery 
indignation which shall consume the adversaries." 

And is it not a cause of joy that the gospel is so 
simple in itself? Men may argue and dispute, till 
the very truth of God seem to become a question- 
able thing; but, amid all that, the gospel in all its 
unutterable simplicity remains still the same. It 
does not consist in a doctrine, nor a series of doc- 
trines. These may be welcomed, and yet the gos- 
pel may remain unfelt. It is all contained in Christ, 
and the receiving of Him is the grand turnin- 
point in the history of every saved soul. 



THE PROOF. 



THE PKAYER. 



"Lord, I am thine by countless ties, 
rhine I would ever be; 
by thy Spirit mould mv soul, 
That I may live for Thee." 



"for the word of god is quick, and powerful, and 
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to 
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the 
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts 

AND INTENTS OF THE HEART." — Htb. iv. 12. 

GOD has magnified his Word above all his name. 
It is his chosen instrument for reclaiming a 
world to himself, and stamping the beauties of 
holiness upon those who are now covered with 
wounds, and bruises, and noisome sores. 

Now, that Word is quick. It is a living thing. 
It proves its vitality and vigor by the fact, that 
it either warns man to flee from the wrath to come, 
or, if the warning be slighted, becomes a savor of 
death unto death. 

It is powerful also. Men may resist it, or attempt 
to dash it from them, but still it holds them fast ; 
it either drags them to judgment, or directs them 
to the cross. 

And it is sharper than any two-edged sword. 
Such a sword can mutilate and mangle the body ; 
it cannot touch the soul. But the sword of the 
Spirit, which is the Word of God, pierces even to 
the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit. It 
separates what man possesses in common with the 
beasts which perish, or mere animal life, from 
that which he may enjoy in common with God- 
head or spiritual life. lake the all-seeing Eye, 



TRUTH TUIUM1MIA.VT. 83 

it penetrates everywhere, and it pierces every- 
thing. 

Moreover, it is a discerner of the thoughts and 
intents of the heart. It detects the sinner; it 
unmasks the hypocrite, while, like the father of 
the prodigal, it sees the penitent though still a 
great way off— it takes him by the hand; it speaks 
words to his heart, and guides him to the spot where 
his God and he walk together again like those who 
are agreed. In accomplishing all that, it may ope- 
rate like the surgeon's knife, dividing asunder the 
joints and marrow; but the pain is salutary, and 
spiritual health is the result when the Spirit blesses 
the means. Is it true, then, that my soul has felt 
that keen edge, and said, Let the righteous smite 
me ? Is it true that the Word of God is my soul's 
daily bread, or the man of its right hand ? Then 
God has visited, and the entrance of his Word has 
given light — it will do for the soul what it was 
blessed to do for the world in apostolic times, and 
again at the Reformation, when the churches re- 
joiced in the truth of God, and rejected the lies of 
man. 

THE PKOOF. 

" L T ? y i vord is a lam P unt0 m y feet > and a light unto nr? 
ppth. n — Psalm cxix. 105. 

THE IIY3IN. 

" Precious Book ! of books the best, 
The dearest gift of Cod but one: 
That surpasses all the rest — 
The gift of God's beloved Son." 



t ($lsz% of Han 



"THE SUN SHALL BE NO MORE THY LIGHT BY DAY; NEITHER 
FOR BRIGHTNESS SHALL THE MOON GIVE LIGHT UNTO THEE: 
BUT THE LORD SHALL BE UNTO THEE AN EVERLASTING LIGHT, 
AND THY GOD THY GLORY." — Isaiah lx. 19. 

THE aching void which sin has left within the 
soul of man is to be filled up by the friend- 
ship of God; it could be filled up by nothing less. 
The prophet saw what was needed, at once by the 
Church and the individual believer; and in his own 
glowing strains, announces what it is that consti- 
tutes our glory, namely, our God. 

Our God — not the idols on which we are prone 
to rest, as if they could meet the demands of a being 
like man's soul, created for eternal duration, and 
for boundless blessedness. 

Our God — and not our own handiwork, proud 
as we are of such transient or polluted things. 

Our God himself — and not the works even of his 
hands, glorious though they be, and reflective of 
his wisdom, his goodness, and power. Not the sea, 
that type of his immensity ; not the sky, the most 
dazzling of his works ; not the earth, stored as it is 
with his bounty ; but Himself, in all his perfections — 
his love, his compassion, and his mercy to man. 
Now, could the thought be entertained of an angel 
flitting from star to star, and trying to find in each 
some new form of glory, is it likely that he would 



the believer's portion. 85 

ever discover aught to eclipse the appointed glory 
of the believer — his God? There, then, let the 
soul rest — there let it be at peace, at perfect 
peace : it is still a blind and a degraded thing, if 
its God do not yield it joy. 

But how is all this verified ? In a way which is 
at once exquisitely simple and unspeakably glad- 
dening. Every thing that the believer has (except 
indwelling sin) is God's. Has he righteousness ? 
It is the righteousness of God. Has he hope ? It 
is hope in God. Has he peace ? It is the peace 
of God. Has he joy ? It is joy in God. And 
has he glory ? « Thy God thy glory," is the Divine 
reply. Such is the provision made to satisfy the 
believer's soul ; and surely on that he may repose, 
and enjoy the peace, while he delights in the smile, 
of his God. And now, my soul, how is it with thee ? 
Hast thou learned to soar, or art thou still grovelling 
in the dust? Is God thy glory, and thy joy, or is 
some perishing thing all that thou hast to satisfy 
the vast desires of the heart ? 

THE PROOF. 

"My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humbla 
shall hear thereof, and be glad." — Psalm xxxiv. 2. 

THE HYMN. 

"Earth's beauties blending all in one, 
'Were but an infant's toy; 
For nobler things man's spirit pants — 
His God must be his joy." 



%\t Sun irf pgjrlMimuss. 

U UNTO YOU THAT FEAR MY NAME SHALL THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUS- 
I ARISE WITH HEALING IN HIS WINGS." — Mdl. iv. 2. 



THE mercies of God, in all their amplitude, are 
freely offered to all. Barbarian, Scythian, 
bond and free, are all welcome ; nay, all are pressed 
to close with the Holy One's offers. Expostula- 
tion, remonstrance, and melting entreaty, are each 
in turn employed to prevail on the sinner to return 
to God and live. 

But free as these mercies are in the offer of them 
to all, the Bible is ever circumspect and cautious 
as to those who actually enjoy the benefits thus pre- 
sented. No happiness for man while living in sin, 
and no mercy till he forsake it by fleeing to Christ. 
No promises fulfilled in any saving sense while 
man exists in a state of revolt from God. Before 
any saving blessing can be enjoyed, a certain 
character must be possessed. It is written, for 
example, " Unto you that fear my name shall the 
Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his 
wings," and there is no light, no healing, no spirit- 
ual joy, for any others. I must come to Christ 
before I get the promised rest. I must seek as God 
commands, ere I can find, as God has guaranteed 
in his Word. 

And how blessed the assurance which we have 



the k;;vival. 87 

here! The Sun, and that the Sun of Righteousness, 
arising ! At sunrise all nature seems to revive. 
The mountains, first tipped with light, speed on the 
glad intelligence to the valley, and nature is forth- 
with all a-glow. Now, what happens on the visible 
landscape when the sun arises, and towers, and rocks, 
and streams, and waving woods, all start from twilight 
into sunshine, takes place in the soul when the Sun 
of Righteousness arises upon man. All becomes 
radiant now. The darkness of nature is slowly dis- 
pelled ; and as the soul sees light in God's light, it 
rejoices more and more in the effulgence. how 
suicidal is man, who prefers darkness to that, and 
often plunges into sin, lest the true light should irra- 
diate and save ! My soul, let the dust be thy bed, 
and sackcloth thy covering, because thou didst once 
love darkness ; but let thy life be henceforth to the 
praise of Him who has now "made thee to differ." 



THE PROOF. 



" Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in 
Heart." — Psalm xcvii. 11. 



THE HYMN. 



How majestic the scene when at day-dawn the sun, 
Careering in glory, sails slow on the view! 

Yet deeper the bliss when the Sun of the soul 
Sheds his lustre on men, all their powers to renew. 1 



j$B'iritnal §ttUnsian. 

"FROM THAT TIME MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK, ASTj 
WALKED NO MOKE WITH HIM." — John vi. 66. 

"TT~TERE the believer's life a sail upon a summer 
» » sea — did no clouds ever gather, or no tem- 
pest break — such a life would be hailed by multi- 
tudes. Were there no duties which cross the purposes 
of man, no truths which humble him, no convictions 
which show that he is by nature " poor, and wretched 
and miserable, and blind, and naked," all would wel- 
come a system so easy ; they would rejoice in the 
Saviour's light. 

But when His religion comes with sorrow and self- 
denial in its train, few cordially embrace it ; they 
offer it only the semblance of homage. They weary 
of watching ; they will not pray always ; they reach 
a point where they abandon the truth ; they make 
shipwreck of the faith and a good conscience ; they 
once put their hands to the plough, but they now look 
back, and soon learn to walk without the fear of God, 
as the world does. 

There are cases, however, in which the apostasy 
is not final. The soul is reclaimed ; it is moved to 
return and do its first works, and like Peter after his 
fall, it is raised up by the very hand which it had 
forsaken. And O, how pungent the sorrows which 
often follow these temporary declensions ! Before 



TIIK RECLAIMED. 89 

the soul be restored to its former rank, the bitter 
tears of Peter are often shed. Woes are endured 
like those of him who onee denied ilie faith, and 
signed a deed to that effect, but who was eventually 
restored, then died a martyr to the truth, and in tes- 
timony of his compunction thrust his right hand into 
the flames, that the member with which he had sin- 
ned might be the first that was consumed. 

Now, is my soul watching against all such declen- 
sions ? Is it my endeavor and my prayer to be stead- 
fast and unmovable, always abounding in the work 
of the Lord ? Am I impressed, as every self-loving 
soul should be, with the solemn warning, " If any 
man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in 
him?" All that is tender in the love, or terrible 
in the justice of God, pleads for steadfast adherence 
to the Lord our righteousness ; all that is precious in 
the soul points in the same direction, while the joy 
of the Lord is the promised portion of those who 
follow on to know him. 

THE PKOOF. 

" Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any mo- e with idols." — 
Hosea xiv. 8. 

THE CONVICTION. 

" Draw back ! Nay, onward, upward still 
Must be the heavenward way; 
Ten thousand dangers need not daunt — 
God is our strength and stay." 

H * 



%}}t feat tyntawtiavi. 

"but will god in very deed dwell with men on thb 
earth? " — 2 Chron. vi. 18. 

WE often hear the sad story of children who 
have wandered from their father's home. 
They may have ventured rashly on the deep, and 
been drifted out to sea ; or they may have strayed 
into the forest, and there become entangled so as 
to be in danger of death ; or they may have lost 
their way amid the streets and the lanes of some 
vast city, and cannot tell either their name or their 
father's abode. But O how glad when they are 
once more restored to their parents' sheltering roof 
— how welcome the smile of the familiar faces, and 
how speedily the tear is dried ! 

Now, something of the same kind has happened 
to wayward man. The children of our Father who 
is in heaven have wandered away from his shel- 
ter and his love, along ten thousand paths. So 
long have they strayed, that they have lost all 
knowledge of the way ; and, in their misdirected 
efforts to regain it, ten thousand times ten thousand 
are wandering farther and farther still. Some 
bemoan themselves in their sad condition ; but many, 
like the prodigal before he came to himself, appear 
to deem that their joy or their freedom, which is, 
in reality, their bondage and their woe. 



THE GREAT REALITY. 91 

But back to his God man must be guided ; or, 
like the 

u Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast," 

he is necessarily wretched. And how can man 
get back to God? The whole Bible is a reply. 
When we could neither ascend to him, nor yet be 
happy without him, He came down to us. In very 
deed he dwelt with man on the earth; and now the 
brightness of his glory gladdens, the plenitude of 
his mercy saves, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Behold the consummation of heavenly wisdom, and 
0, my soul, rejoice in it as also the consummation 
of thy joy. What seemed only a dim conjecture 
or a distant hope in the days of Solomon, was turned 
into a blessed reality eighteen centuries and a half 
ago; and now, man once degraded and prostrate, 
may be erect and ennobled again. To "walk with 
Christ in newness of life," is the end of all perfec- 
tion. 

THE PROOF. 

u We have redemption through Christ's blood, even the forgive- 
ness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God "— 

Col. i. 14, 15. 

THE HYMN. 

"No more let me doat as if earth were my home; 
It is only the place of my exile and woe: 
From all that can gladden I thoughtlessly roam, 
Till the God, who in mercy redeemed me, 1 know." 



" NEITHER IS THERE ANY CREATURE THAT IS NOT MANIFEST 
EN HIS SIGHT: BUT ALL THINGS ARE NAKED AND OPENED UNTO 
THE EYES OF HIM WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO." — Htb. iv. 13. 

THERE are many sentences in the Word of God 
brief and simple, but so thoroughly charged 
with meaning, that, if even one of them were made 
the universal rule of conduct, it would revolutionize 
the moral world. So fully, in many cases, does 
even a single clause embody the mind of God, that, 
if it were to become the mind of man, he that is 
filthy would cease to be filthy any more ; he that 
now loves a lie would become enamoured of the 
truth ; and a new moral beauty would be spread 
in the life, and among the homes of men. 

The text of our present meditation is such a por- 
tion of the Word — it is felt to be like a glance of 
the Heart-searcher's eye, if the conscience be quick, 
and the soul an object of interest. "There is no 
creature that is not manifest in his sight." The 
most microscopic and the most mighty object in 
creation are equally exposed to His scrutiny. 
Especially does he look man's heart through and 
through ; he turns over all its folds, and fol- 
lows it through all its windings, insomuch that 
there is not a thought in the hea; t, but, lo, he 
knows it altogether. Every sin is committed in 
God's presence. He is a witness to it ; so that 



THE ADVOCATE. 93 

the sinner, in effect, challenges the judgment of 
God. 

And " all things are naked and opened unto his 
eyes." There is no darkness, and no disguise to 
him. Even our secret sins are set in the light of 
his countenance ; and were one of them to pass 
unpunished, that much would be subtracted from 
the perfection of his justice. 

But finally, u we have to do" with that Heart- 
searcher, and these simple words are full of signifi- 
cance. We must meet him face to face. We must 
give in our account to Him in person for the deeds 
done in the body ; and who may abide that ordeal ? 
Out of Christ, who shall stand when the throne of 
judgment is set? my soul, make sure of the con- 
stituted Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous. With Him as thy Shepherd, no evil need 
be heeded ; but every other protection is a refuge of 
lies, a gourd when the scorching sun arises. 



THE PROOF. 

" Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou 
knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising: thou ui lerstandest 
my thought afar off." — Psalm cxxxix. 1, 2. 



THE HYMN. 

"No darkness screens us from the gaze 
Of Godhead's flame-bright eye; 
It pierces through the densest haze, 
And gleams where'er we fly." 



t $rm jorjf t\t f jorri. 



"AND GIDEON CAME TO JORDAN, AND PASSED OVER, HE, 
AND THE THREE HUNDRED MEN THAT WERE WITH MIM, FAINT, 

yet pursuing them." — Judges viii. 4. 

rpHE attitude of Gideon and his little band is one 
J- which the believer should often study ; that war- 
rior's case is often ours in the good fight of faith. 

" I am weary and faint in my mind," one may 
exclaim. Then think of Gideon, and pursue even 
amid your fainting. 

" I shall one day perish," is the fear of another. 
Then fall with the face to the enemy, and conquer 
even in dying, as the Redeemer did. 

" There is a lion in the way, a lion in the streets," 
is the conviction of a third. Such lions flee when we 
assail them ; a man may put a thousand to flight, if 
he will only grasp the shield of faith and the sword 
of the Spirit. 

" Unstable as water, I cannot excel," is the com- 
plaint of another. Then lean the more upon Him 
who can make the weak to be like David. 

"My sins appear more numerous and vile from 
day to day," is the deep and the painful feeling of 
others. Then away to the fountain opened for sin 
and for uncleanness. Haste and flee for your life. 

" They of my own house are my enemies," exclaims 
another, " and I am hindered when I would advance." 
Appeal the more frequently to Him who is the friend 
of the sinner, and the guide of the perplexed. 



THE SECRET PLACE OF STRENGTH. 95 

" I am prone every hour to sink back to the world," 
is another complaint. True ; but do you not know 
of one who said, " Be of good cheer, for I have over- 
come the world," and who overcame it for you, if you 
believe ? If your own strength be your confidence, 
you will soon sink indeed. If Jehovah be your 
strength, who is he that will harm you ? 

" Can I be a child of God," one a>ks, u while sin 
is so strong in my soul?" — The Scriptures suggest 
for an answer — Paul was forced to exclaim, under 
the pressure of indwelling sin, "0 wretched man that 
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this 
death?" and was taught by the Spirit to reply, "I 
thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Like the autumn leaves for number, are the sorrows 
and the trials of a believer ; but One in whom all the 
fulness of the Godhead bodily dwells has come : He 
is with us always to save and sustain. Away, then, 
with all complaints, as if the Lord could forsake us ; 
let every fear drive us nearer to Him, and perfect 
love will cast out fear. 

TIIE PKOOF. 

M Who is he that will harm you, if ye be the followers of that 
which is good? " — 1 Pet. iii. 13. 

THE HYMN. 

" Does Hermon's dew fall sweet at eve? 
So Jesus soothes the weary saint- 
Do palm tree shades make deserts glad? 
So Jesus eheers us when we faint." 



%\t Stt0itgl]0l&. 



'' SURELY THERE IS NO ENCHANTMENT AGAINST JACOB, NEI- 
THER IS THERE ANY DIVINATION AGAINST ISRAEL." — Num. 

xxiii. 23. 

THE Word of God is full of the strongest assur- 
ances of a believer's safety* So numerous are 
they, that our religion falls short of what it was de- 
signed to be, if we are not reposing in serenity and 
peace, under Almighty protection. We are to be 
kept " in perfect peace," if we act on the heavenly 
terms. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, into 
which the righteous should run and be safe. There 
is a sure foundation laid in Zion, and he that builds 
upon it shall never be put to shame. In six troubles, 
yea, in seven, the Lord is to be our stay. He is our 
sun and shield. When we pass through the waters 
he will be with us, and through the rivers they shall 
not overflow us ; when we walk through the fire we 
shall not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon 
us. — But we must transcribe a large portion of the 
Bible, if we would detail its assurances of safety to 
the believer. They are numerous, like the stars of 
the midnight sky. 

Balaam felt the truth of all this, when he said, 
" There is no enchantment against Jacob, nor any 
divination against Israel." He was willing to curse 
them for hire ; but there was a hand which held him 
back — it was as if his tongue cleaved to the roof of 



TIIK SURE DEFENCE. 97 

his mouth, when he hied to curse those whom the 
Lord had blessed. The mighty shield was over 
them, and the hireling recoiled from doing the work 
for which the bribe was offered. Though Balak had 
given him a house full of gold, Balaam could not go 
beyond the Word of God, to do less or more. 

And it is still the same with those whose strong- 
hold is the Lord. The humblest of his saints is the 
object of his care, though unbelief may often doubt it. 
There is not one among the sons of men, if he have 
come to the fountain open for sin, who is not thus 
under an almighty Guardian's shelter. Evpd my 
sin-laden soul may be so, unless I prefer some refuge 
of lies to the " hiding-place from the storm. " O flee, 
then, to that hiding-place, and dwell in perfect peace. 

THE PROOF. 

" And the work of righteousness shall be peace ; and the effect 
of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. And my peo 
pie shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, 
and in quiet resting-places." — Isaiah xxxii. 17, 18. 

THE HYMN. 

" The Son of God in love became 
Peace to the sons of men — 
The blood which cleanses sin away, 
Awakes their joy again. 

" Serenely safe, they now repose 
Beneath a heavenly shade; 
And smile to heaven in love again, 
For woes so well allayed. 1 * 



THE WONDERS OF REDEEMING LOVE. 



THE WONDERS OF REDEEMING LOVE. 



"his name shall be called wonderful.'* — Isaiah ix. 6. 

WHO shall recount the wonders of which He is 
the substance and the sum ? The guiltless 
dies for the guilty. Weakness is combined with 
Omnipotence. Purity and suffering are seen to- 
gether, each in the supreme degree. Justice and 
mercy meet and embrace. Pardon for the sinner — 
and yet the utmost penalty of the law against the 
sin. Grace to help — and therefore strength for 
those who are by nature unstable as water. The 
righteousness of God to justify, and the peace of 
God to enjoy — a pure conscience where sin has 
been like scarlet and crimson — Godhead and hu- 
manity walking hand in hand among the sons of 
men — omnipotence to shield — love to comfort — 
compassion to pity — patience to bear with — wis- 
dom to guide — goodness to supply our wants; — 
these and countless other mercies meet in Immanuel, 



THE PLACE OF REST. 101 

" The Wonderful" and such is the provision made 
by God over all to meet the wants of the soul, 
and rescue it from perdition. My soul, art thou 
rescued — or dost thou still cling to ruin? He who 
seeks thy ruin is called Legion; but He who came 
to save is The Wonderful: cling to Him; rest on 
Him, and there rejoice for ever. Never forget foi 
a day, or an hour, that by that plan of wonderful 
mercy, of which the Saviour is at once the author 
and the sum, every sin we have committed is a 
reason why we should flee to Him. Conscience 
bids us stand aloof. The law enforces the sugges- 
tion ; and, while we have no guide but these, the 
most we can do is to fear and quake on the one 
hand, or be dead and indifferent upon the other. 
It is when we see the law magnified, conscience 
purified, and the Holy One in Christ beckoning us 
to glory, that we begin to sing of mercy — it is 
then that we learn that the half has not been told 
concerning the Wonderful One. 

THE PROOF. 

"In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." — « 
Col. ii. 3. 

THE HYMN. 

" His name shall be the Prince of Peace- 
For evermore adored, 
The Wonderful, the Counsellor, 
The great and mighty Lord." 



%\t %toa fleas. 

" FOR THY NAME'S SAKE, O LORD, PARDON MINE INIQUITY , 
FOR IT IS GRiAT." — Psalm XXV. 11. 

4 MONG the wonders of redeeming love we should 
Ji\- not fail to notice the pleas which the sinner 
is warranted to employ. Pardon is the thing re- 
quired : till that be obtained, the soul is wretched, 
and every living soul accordingly pants or clamors 
for it. 

Now, mark the argument which it urges — " For 
Thy name's sake" is the first. God's glory — the 
praise of the glory of his grace — is supremely kept 
in view by the Spirit-taught soul ; not man's merit, 
but the glory of God's sovereign name is the all- 
prevailing plea. 

But in the matter of pardon, man does find a 
plea in himself — and what is it? The greatness of 
his sin. It is so great that it crushes him to the 
dust. He cannot lie under it and live. He there- 
fore at once confesses its magnitude, and cries for 
deliverance on that very account. O how pre- 
vailing this confession is ! how humbling to the 
sinner! how glorifying to the God of pardons! how 
full of sweetness and soothing to the contrite soul ! 
The law says the greatness of sin is a source of 
despair ; the gospel says the greatness of sin is a 
reason why you should flee to God for hope — and 



THE STRUGGLE. 103 

eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the blessedness of 
him who has thus fled like a prisoner of hope to 
the stronghold of the gospel. 

There is a struggling soul. It has found out 
what it is to be a sinner, and it is weighed down 
to the dust ; in that condition many have meditated, 
and some have attempted, self-destruction. But 
now it has advanced a step farther — it is led by 
the Spirit to the cross ; faith like a mustard seed 
appears ; hope begins to dawn ; again it is eclipsed ; 
then it brightens — it is like a little boat upon an 
angry sea, now tipping the wave, and then plunging 
into the abyss, as if it had gone down. All the 
while, however, the sense of sin is pressing that soul 
nearer to the Saviour. Sin, Satan, the deceitful 
heart, all whisper there is no hope ; but faith grasps 
the promise — "Though your sins were like scarlet, 
ye shall be white as snow ; " and reposing upon 
that, it is glad. 

THE PROOF. 

" Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and 
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? " — 
Micah vii. 18. 

THE PRAYER. 

" Now for thine own name's sake, Lord, 
I humbly thee entreat 
To pardon mine iniquity, 
For it is very great." 



"the love of chiust constkaixeth us." — 2 Cor. v. 14. 

ALL that God had done for man had failed to 
win his heart. Gift upon gift, till the number 
could not be counted; had been showered upon him. 
The riches of nature had been poured into his lap. 
In some lands, the year was one unceasing autumn — 
but all was unavailing. Man forgot the Giver while 
luxuriating in the gift. 

But, after all, He who is love cannot abandon 
man ; and when all else had failed, another, a last, 
alternative is tried. The love of God in Christ is 
revealed — and man's heart is captivated : his affec- 
tions are now set on things above. The law, with its 
terrors, could not succeed. Providence, with its ever 
full and ever-flowing stream of bounties, could not 
avail. Creation, with all that is stupendous in its 
wonders, or wise in its adaptations, was no less unavail- 
ing — man was still stout-hearted and far from right- 
eousness. But a new moral power was revealed — an 
influence was employed which man could not both feel 
and resist. Something was made known which can 
change the wolf or the lion into a lamb — which can 
elevate the degraded, and purify the vile, as well as 
gladden the downcast. It was the love of God in 
Christ. It was the amazing display made upon the 
cross ; and that is slowly linking all the nations of 



EDEN RESTORED. 105 

the world into one, as it links all the redeemed to 
the cross of Christ and the throne of the Eternal. 

How greatly blessed are they who have felt that 
<ove, and who love in return ! How greatly blessed 
they who have learned to testify their love by imi- 
tating Him who loved them and gave himself for 
Vhem ! O my soul, let the prayer from day to day 
ascend, that the Spirit of love may be more and 
more shed abroad in thee and in the world. It is 
thus that Eden is restored, and thus that God and 
man walk together again, even as they did before 
the fall. Ere man can be blessed again, he must 
regain what he forfeited by sinning. He can no 
more be happy without the image and the friend- 
ship of God, than flesh and blood can find their 
native element in the consuming fire. The grand 
result of redemption, therefore, is to restore thaf 
image and that favor. When that is accomplished, 
the object of Christ's death is realized. The love 
of Christ is ascendant, and man is on the way to 
blessedness for ever. 

THE PJROOF. 

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved 
us, and sent Ins Son to be the propitiation for our sins." — 
1 John iv. 10. 

THE HYMN. 

" What is freedom to the captive? 
Life to man when doomed to die? 
More glad the love of Heaven 
To the mourner's upward eye." 



re tS&auHt nf Rubers. 

" GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER." — Luke XVlii. 13, 

A MONG the chief marvels over which the be- 
il liever rejoices, when the Spirit of God has 
enlightened him, is the fact that salvation is pro- 
vided for sinners. The publican's prayer embodies 
the truth ; and could we be brought cordially to 
urge that prayer, the soul would soon be blessed. 
It is to me, a sinner, that mercy is offered ; if I 
were not a sinner, I would not need it, and it is the 
wonder of wonders that the righteousness of God is 
so declared in the gospel, that he is just in the very 
act of justifying sinners who believe. While pro- 
testing with a voice far more loud than thunder 
against all iniquity, they are yet the guilty, the 
condemned, the lost, whom the God of the gospel 
contemplates. Self-righteousness thinks it should be 
otherwise, and the Pharisee of every age cries out 
against such a scheme. But the righteous Lord, 
who loveth righteousness, has adopted it, at once 
to raise the fallen and deepen the hosannas of the 
saved. 

Look, then, my soul — as a sinner, look to Christ, 
and be saved. Try to look, on the ground that thou 
art a believer — that is, make thy faith the source 
of hope ; and that faith, is made thy Saviour, while 
Christ is dishonored. But disown all else, that 



THE HEAVENLY STANDARD. 107 

Christ may be every thing to thee. Come as a 
sinner — come again as a sinnei, and again and 
again. In a word, employ the publican's prayer — 
let it come from the heart, and then beauty will 
be given for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 
while the very righteousness of God becomes the 
garment of the soul. 

Nor need you ever fear that this will diminish 
your obligations to be holy. Who so thoroughly 
bound to die to sin, as those who believe in Him 
who died for it ? That conviction should press us 
ever upwards in the path of duty. Purity, like 
that of Christ, should be the believer's aim ; and 
it is the sure decree of God, that we can no more 
see the Lord without holiness, than approach the 
Father otherwise than through the Son. 

THE PROOF. 

"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth him- 
self, even as He is pure." — 1 John iii. 3 

THE HYMN 

" * Ho, ye that thirst! ' behold the cry 
Of heavenly love to man; 
4 Come icith the burden for relief/ 
Lo. Heaven's benignant plan. 

"Then let the thirsty soul, refreshed, 
Haste on its holy way: 
8Uall blood-bou^'hl souls, enslaved again, 
Their Saviour disobey?" 



ftljt <$ir*r of fyrfaw's. 

**WHO IS A GOD LIKE UNTO TltEE, THAT PARDONETH INIQUITY, 
AN1> PASSETH BY THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE REMNANT OF 
HIS HERITAGE? HE RETAINETH NOT HIS ANGER FOR EVER, 
BECAUSE HE DELIGHTETH IN MERCY." — Miccill vii. 18. 

THE wonder is that God should ever pardon a 
single sin. His declaration in the beginning 
was in effect, " The soul that sinneth shall die ; " and 
mere reason or mere conscience knows nothing of 
any other verdict : it cannot even appreciate God's 
plan of pardon when it has been announced. But 
when we have been taught to understand how freely 
God can pardon iniquity — how honoring are the 
terms on which he can blot out our sins, although 
they be like crimson and like scarlet — then the soul 
exults in the discovery more than they that divide 
the spoil. " He pardoneth iniquity ; " nay more, 
" He passeth by the transgression of the remnant 
of his heritage ; " nay more, " He retaineth not his 
anger for ever ; " and the reason is, " He delighteth 
in mercy." All this imparts a knowledge to the 
soul, which spreads gladness there, as streams in 
the desert are fringed with verdure and fertility. 
Some of our race, who are born to trouble as the 
sparks fly upward, groan under the burden of 
poverty ; others are vexed by protracted disease ; 
some are afflicted in those whom they love, so that 
their enemies are often they of their own house; 



THE WEAK MADE STRONG. ] 09 

others still are tried by the faithlessness of friend- 
ship, when those in whom they confide prove like 
a summer brook, or like waters that fail. But 
there is a burden heavier far than these, which 
pains and oppresses the soul that is convicted of 
sin — the burden of guilt, and the pain of defile- 
ment; and it is when the means of escape from 
that burden and that pollution are first revealed 
to the mind, that the soul is truly blessed. Its 
name is no longer Hephzibah, but Buelah, for the 
Lord delights in it, and it delights in the Lord. 
His glory is now its great object, and it is now 
His peculiar care. That soul has almighty strength 
to lean upon, and omniscience to consult ; and thus 
furnished by the grace of God for all that can 
befall, it cries with Paul in his chains at Rome, 
"I can do all things through Christ who strength- 
ened! me." 

THE PROOF. 

"He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will 
subdue our iniquities ; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the 
depths of the sea." — Micah vii. 19. 

THE HYMN. 

" The sun above shall fade at last, 
The heavens shall haste away, 
The ocean hall desert his bed, 
Earth's glories all decay. 

"For sun, and sky, and sea, and land, 
Are creatures doomed to perish; 
But, changeless as the throne of God, 
The hopes his saints may cherish." 



far ton anft its Jfrnil. 

"NATHAN SAID UNTO DAVID, THE LORD HATH PUT AWAY 
THY SIN." — 2 Sam. xii. 13. 
"my sin is ever before me." — Psalm li. 3. 

THESE two portions of the Word of God display 
another peculiarity in that religion of which 
love is the origin and consummation. The Lord 
blots out iniquity. He does not remember trans- 
gression : when he comes near to a soul in mercy, he 
expunges its guilt — it is sought for and nowhere to 
be found. But that soul cannot forgive itself. Nay, 
its cry now is, " I was as a beast before thee." I can 
neither forget nor forgive myself for committing the 
abominable thing. And against whom have I trans- 
gressed ? That God who blots out iniquity like a 
cloud. Or, again ; against what have I trans- 
gressed ? That justice which is the pillar at once 
of the throne of God and of the universe which he 
has made ; that compassion which bore with me 
amid a thousand waywardnesses, and that mercy 
which is over all God's other works. O, surely the 
dust is my becoming bed ; and all the more lowly 
should I lie because God has put away the iniquity 
of may sins. Conscience now testifies, according to 
the gospel, that there is no condemnation from God ; 
but just the deeper is my condemnation from myself. 
The law of holiness is met and magnified: but the 
new law of love is just the more constraining. 



THE LOWLY SOUL. Ill 

Be the dust, then, my bed, and be sackcloth 
my covering there ; but, at the same time, let 
radiant hope animate my soul — let holy boldness 
guide my steps — when I read so brightly in the 
pages of the gospel, " The Lord hath put away 
thy sin." Its condemning power is over, though 
it may still humble, and vex, and pain. There is 
much reason for walking circumspectly, and we 
may well blush and be ashamed ; but if the Lord 
be " pacified towards us," then we may lift up the 
hands that hang down ; we may take with us 
words, and return unto the living God. In that, 
our safety and our peace are found, for Lie will 
redeem his promise — "They that wait upon the 
Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount 
up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not 
be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint." 

THE PROOF. 

u They shall not be ashamed that wait for me." — Isaiah xlix. 23. 

THE HYMN. 

" 0, shall we not exulting flee, 
When God invites us'near? 
The open fountain waits to cleanse, 
The God of grace to cheer. 

u A radiant mercy, deep as floods, 
Flows from his lofty throne, 
And love, like sunlight, shines on all 
Whose trust is Christ alone." 



&bas*&, pt giving. 

"WHAT IS MAN, THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM? AND 
THE SON OF MAN THAT THOU VISITEST HIM?" — Psabll viii. i. 

SO mindful as to lift him from the dust that he 
may sit with princes ! So mindful as to send 
his own Son to suffer and to die in man's stead ! So 
mindful as to commission the Spirit of all grace to 
take up his abode in man's heart, and there make 
all things new! So mindful as to stamp God's 
image on the soul again, and fit it for glory, honor, 
and immortality ! 

The believing apprehension of these and similar 
truths often fills the soul with amazement. All 
this for me! Such mercy, such glory for me! 
Such affluence of wisdom put forth to rescue me ! 
Such thoughts sometimes prompt the soul to ques- 
tion the whole scheme of redemption, as the disci- 
ples questioned the Redeemer's resurrection, because 
"they could not believe it for joy." But when 
the soul falls back on the Word of God, when it 
reads line upon line in favor of self-ruined man, 
then, if that soul be a believing one, its wonder is 
expressed as David expressed his, and there is no 
tinge of doubt in the expression. The mouth of the 
Lord has spoken his loving-kindness to the sons of 
men. The death of the Saviour shows us the very 
heart of Jehovah ; and rejoicing in his love, the 



TIIK FIRST UKSLKHKCT10N. 113 

believer blesses the merciful One who remembered 
him in his lost condition, and said, kW Deliver from 
going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom." 
It is then that man begins to see the full meaning 
of the words, that the Lord is to the soul what the 
early and the latter rain is to the fruits of the 
field — that He is like the dew to Israel — that He 
is a sun and a shield — and will withhold no good 
from those who seek him in spirit and in truth. 
my soul, is it thus with thee ? Does lie whose 
eyes behold and whose eyelids try the children of 
men, see thee at once deeply abased, yet humbly 
hoping — at once admiring his mercy and confiding 
in it ? Then, let the new song be in thy mouth, 
even praise to our God. He has visited and re- 
deemed thee. The second death is over. Thou 
hast a part in the first resurrection. 

THE PROOF. 

" the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge 
of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
finding out ! " — Romans xi. 33. 

THE HYMN. 

11 When all thy mercies, my God! 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 
In wonder, love, and praise. 

tv Thy Son, my substitute and hope; 
His agonies my bliss ; 
His death my life, his urave my hope^ 
His heaven my happiness.' 1 



e Buxt §tftui. 

"the lord of hosts is with us; the god of j&cob is 
OUR refuge." — Psalm xlvi. 7. 

HE might have been emptying the vials of His 
wrath upon us. He might have abandoned 
us when we had abandoned Him, and left us to be 
filled with the fruits of our own devices. As we 
had sowed the wind, He might have left us to reap 
the whirlwind ; and His justice would still have 
been untarnished. But mercy rejoices over judg- 
ment, and " the Lord of hosts is with us ; the God 
of Jacob is our refuge." He is at our right hand, 
and we cannot be greatly moved. Temptation 
comes ; but need it prevail when the Lord of hosts 
is on our side ? Trials may be multiplied ; but 
need they ever overwhelm us when Omnipotence is 
our stay ? Satan may buffet. Though he cannot 
destroy a believer's soul, he may mar his peace; 
yet even in that he need not succeed, since the God 
of Jacob is our refuge. He who leads Joseph like 
a flock will defend and guard his own ; and the 
result will be glory to Him who always causes us 
to triumph. " Greater is He that is for us than 
all that can be against us," may now become the 
believer's song, and may constitute a portion of his 
praises on earth, preparatory to his singing the 
song of Moses and the Lamb for ever. 



T1I1C ItOCK. 115 

Here, then, the devout believer may exclaim, 

here is the rock of ray refuge — -here is my safe and 

quiet retreat ; whatever may befall, hither I will 

flee, and there can be no overthrow when I have 

the mighty God of Jaeob for my defence ; there 

need not be even a wound while 1 hold the shield 

of faith, yea, while the Lord God himself is my 

shield. Enter then, O my soul, on thy peace. Do 

not rob the Prinee of Peace of his glory, as if he 

would forsake or could net defend thee. Thy God 

is now thy all ; thy righteousness, to justify ; thy 

peace, to tranquillize ; thy hope, to animate ; and 

at last, 

" Though every form of death and every woe 
Shot from malignant stars to earth below," 

thy portion to enjoy for ever. 

THE PROOF. 

" And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds 
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded 
upon a rock." — Matt. vii. 25. 

THE HYMN. 

" As Noah saw the waters swell, 
To sweep a world away; 
Yet gnzed undaunted on the storm, 
His God, his hope, and stay: 

" So Faith, amid a thousand ills, 
Clings to creative might; 
And, shielded by Omnipotence, 
Smiles welcome to the fight." 



"the lord passed by before him, and PROCLAIMED, TH8 

LORD, THE LORD GOD, MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS, LONG-SUF- 
FERING, AND ABUNDANT IN GOODNESS AND TRUTH, KEEPING 
MERCY FOR THOUSANDS, FORGIVING INIQUITY AND TRANSGRES- 
SION AND SIN, AND THAT WILL BY NO MEANS CLEAR THE 

guilty." — Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. 

HERE is the very voice of mercy from heaven 
to man, and mark, my soul, the gracious 
plenitude of truth. As if to assure or encourage 
timid and conscience-stricken man, we have attri- 
bute piled upon attribute, and the whole pointed out 
as a foundation of hope. Our hard thoughts of God 
are here at once rebuked and dispelled, and the chief 
of sinners may begin to rejoice. First, It is the 
Lord, the Lord God who speaks ; but what is His 
name or His memorial among the sons of men ? 
" He is merciful and gracious ; " nay more, He is 
" long-suffering ; " and further still, He is " abun- 
dant in goodness and in truth." But even more 
specific : He " keeps mercy for thousands, He for- 
gives iniquity ; " and as if that were not enough, 
we are farther assured that He also " forgives trans- 
gression and sin ; " that is, every kind or degree of 
iniquity may be blotted out, according to the system 
which tells of the blood which cleanses from it 
all. May not the soul rejoice, then ? Should it 
not exult in this mercy, and flee, in the full assur- 



MERCY AND JUST1CK. 117 

ance of hope, to Hirn who is so mighty and so 
gracious to save ? 

Yet the mercy of God is not to encourage sin. 
Man's sin-loving soul would persuade him to con- 
tinue in it, since grace so much abounds ; but to 
cut off every pretext for that delusion, we read that 
the Lord, all-merciful as He is, will not, He cannot, 
" clear the guilty." And strange as it may sound % 
there never was a single sin committed which did 
not receive its due meed of punishment. Either in 
the sinner, or in the sinner's Substitute, every trans- 
gression of every shade and degree, must receive 
what it deserves. It may be pardoned to the sin- 
ner, but that is only because it was punished in the 
person of Him who died the Just for the unjust ; 
and it is here that the believer sees at once the 
mercy of God expunging his sin, and the unswerv- 
ing justice of Him who " will by no means clear," 
punishing that sin to the uttermost. 

THE PROOF. 

** To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses though 
we have rebelled against him." — Dan. ix. 9. 

THE HYMN. 

u 0, mark the Just One's love to man ! 
The justice which arraigns 
Is magnified by Christ the Lord, 
And now our cause maintains." 



1 '0 THE DEPTHS OF THE RICHES BOTH OF THE WISDOM AND 
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ! HOW UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDG- 
MENTS, AND HIS WAYS PAST FINDING OUT!"' — Roill. xi. 33. 

PT^HIS is one of the depths of that ocean in which 
JL- the humbled soul feels it would be lost, were 
not the everlasting arms underneath it and around 
it. The wisdom of God beams on the believer 
from the cross of Christ. But the Wonderful, the 
Counsellor, there appears in all his majesty, as well 
as in his wisdom ; and the result is, assured con- 
fidence to the soul that believes. When such a 
man is enabled to draw near to the Holy One, under 
the shelter of the cross, sights are seen and utter- 
ances heard, by faith, in which he greatly exults 
One is taken and another left — behold the sove- 
reignty of God : one reciprocates the love of God : 
another lives and dies at enmity with him : one re- 
joices in his mercy; another spurns it away: one 
admires and adores his wisdom ; to another it is 
foolishness, and is rejected and despised : one feels 
the heart made glad by the beams of the Sun of 
Righteousness ; another sees no beauty in Him, he 
continues blind, and even the wonder of Him who 
is the brightness of the Father's glory has no 
attractions for such a man. His foolish heart is 
darkened, and though the light of the knowledge 



"the day of small things." 119 

of the glory of God be shining all around, all seems 
to him to be covered with a pall of darkness. 

O my soul, hast thou been learning wisdom from 
Him in whom all its treasures are hid ? Hast thou, 
in holy submission, laid thyself prostrate at the feet 
of Him of whom, and to whom, and through whom 
are all things ? Then, being in a sinful creature's 
right position, enjoy the blessings provided by God 
our Saviour ; cherish the wisdom which comes from 
above ; and thus, as every thing which comes from 
heaven seeks back to its native home, the grace 
which has guided thee on the earth will lead thee 
to the house not made with hands eternal in the 
heavens. You have the first fruits here, the full 
harvest is on high ; the grapes of Eshcol are tasted 
on earth, the vintage is all before you ; the day of 
small things is now beheld, the eternal day is like 
the shining of seven suns. 

THE PROOF. 

*'For of him and through him, and to him, are all things: to 
whom be glory for ever. Amen." — Uom. xi. 30. 

THE HYMN. 

" As tapers tc the blazing sun, 

Or dew-drops to the mighty sea, 
Are all the joys of earth and time 
To heaven's eternal eestasy." 



t in to. 

"WHY ART TIIOU CAST DOWN, O MY SOUL? AND WHY ALT 
THOU DISQUIETED WITHIN ME V HOPE THOU IN GOD: FOlt I 
SHALL YET PRAISE HIM, WHO IS THE HEALTH OF MY COUN- 
TENANCE AND MY GOD." — Psalm xlii. 11. 

EVERY woe which man endures is designed to 
bring him nearer and nearer to his God, if 
he will be brought. Our spirit cleaves to the 
dust ; sorrow comes to show us the folly of such a 
course. Man puts the creature in the Creator's 
place ; tribulation shows him that the creature is a 
miserable comforter, and warns him, if he will be 
warned, to rest on the Almighty arm. Man is 
ever prone to seek that in sin which can be found 
only in holiness and God ; but misery, perhaps 
acute and crushing, comes to show him that to be 
a sinner is to be wretched, whatever men may dream 
to the contrary. Now, under that discipline, a child 
of God gradually gathers wisdom ; and one of his 
most resolute convictions is, that to his Father's 
arms he must flee for shelter in every hour of need. 
Is the soul burdened with a weight of sin ? To 
his Father the believer flees, that the burden may 
be removed. Is it some relative woe that troubles 
him? That also he carries to God for comfort. Is 
he pained in spirit because the wicked are before 
him ? Is his experience in some degree like that 
of the Saviour when he said : " O faithless and 



BITTER WATERS MADE SWEET. 121 

perverse generation, how long shall I be with you 
and suffer you?" That also the believer unbosoms 
to his God and Father. However cast down, how- 
ever disquieted, he still hopes in God, and is not 
put to shame. He knows that the wood of a 
sweetening tree has been thrown into the bitter 
waters. He is well assured that all things are 
working together for good to them that love God. 
With God for his portion, what can such a man 
fear? With the Word of God as the foundation 
of his hope, can any measure of confidence be too 
sanguine? Nay, rather, O my soul, let me reason 
with thee, as David did with his. Is there not joy 
provided to soothe thee amid sorrow? or is there 
not One who says, in words of more than earthly 
tenderness, u As one whom his mother comforts, 
so will I comfort thee ? " 



THE PROOF. 

" Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be 
in the vines: the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall 
yield no meat: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there 
shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will 
joy in the God of my salvation." — Hab. iii. 17, 18. 



THE HYMN. 



" The God of glory pours from heaven 

His bounties on the sons of men ; 

And crowning all — the mind ot God 

Is imaged in man's soul again." 



t l§axtia\i of t\}t £««!. 

" o my god." — Psalm xl. 17. 

SEPARATED as we are from God, not merely 
as creatures, but, moreover, as sinful creatures, 
one of the marvels of redemption is, that we can 
yet claim the Holy One as all our own. The man 
after God's own heart had learned habitually to do 
so, and upwards of two hundred times does he ad- 
dress God as his God, like one who knew that the 
Lord is the portion of his people. And O, is it not 
well that it is so ? We try, indeed, to find a por- 
tion for the soul among the things which are seen 
and temporal. We laden ourselves with thick clay; 
we say to the gold, thou art my god, and to the fine 
gold, thou art my confidence ; and amid that folly 
we dream that we are wise, although we are labour- 
ing in the fire. Chafed and disappointed on every 
side, we anticipate felicity in more, and more, and 
more of the creature — as if by enlarging our idols 
we could transmute them into the true God. But 
when the Spirit of God becomes our teacher, the 
living God becomes our portion. In him we live, 
and move, and have our being, and in him also we 
rejoice. Nearness to him is blessedness — the hid- 
ing of his countenance is woe. His condemnation 
we cannot brook ; nay, the whole soul droops, and 
pines, and decays, unless we see light in God's 



DELIGHT IN GOD. 123 

light, and be made righteous with God's righteous- 
ness — and, as such, partakers of his peace. 

Let the soul, then, delight itself in God : " Whom 
have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon 
earth whom I can desire beside thee." "As the 
hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my 
soul after thee, God. My soul thirsteth for God, 
the living God; when shall I come and appear be- 
fore God?" Let these meditations of David be the 
meditations of our souls, and He who created the 
desire will gratify, it. Our joy will be found in 
the smile of a reconciled God; and while others, 
wearied and .worn out with a disappointing world, 
are greedily asking "Who will show us any good?" 
our souls will understand the prayer : " Lord, lift 
thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." The 
Spirit of adoption will then animate, and God in 
Christ become our all in all. To be filled with all 
the fulness of God — how gladdening, how satisfy- 
ing, how surely is that the blessedness of heaven 
begun ! 

THE PROOF. 

"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." — 
Col. ii. 9. J 

THE HYMN. 

" blest exchange! for guilt and woe 
My soul exults in hallowing grace; 
God r s Son to save — His Spirit to guide, 
And fit me for his dwelling-place." 



Ji Contrast. 



"for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 

YOUR WAYS MY WAYS, SAITH THE LORD." — Isaiah lv. 8. 

NO, Lord, for thou bringest life out of death, 
and a grave is the scene of thy greatest tri- 
umph. Thou bringest glory, honor, and immor- 
tality there to light ; and more than that, thou 
teachest the weak and the dying sons of men to 
exclaim, " death, where is thy sting ? grave, 
where is thy victory ? " To have abolished death, 
and bestowed on man, if he w r ill receive the gift, 
a life which knows no death — that is proof enough 
that thy ways are not ours. 

Or another — were another needed — is, that thou 
bringest countless blessings to man by means of 
the exhausted curse. Yea, he who was Jehovah's 
fellow was made a curse for us, that the wrath 
of an offended God might be rolled away, and all 
the honor of a violated law upheld; that mercy 
might flow forth to man, even w T hile every sin is 
punished, and the guilty "by no means cleared." 

And is it not another proof that thy thoughts 
are not ours, when it is to the ungodly that a 
Saviour is offered — for the unjust that the Just One 
died — that they are sinners, even the chief, whom 
the Redeemer sought to save? Had the thoughts of 
men been exercised upon a plan of salvation, or of 



DIVINE CONCORD. 125 

escape from sin, it would certainly not have been 
for publicans and sinners that heaven would have 
been opened ; but for those whom men regarded 
as virtuous, as good-hearted, or reformed. But 
"for sinners even the chief" — "yea, even for the 
rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell 
among them " — behold the consummating proof 
that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor our 
ways his ! 

Yet his thoughts must become ours. We are to 
become like-minded with him — to will what he 
wills — to love what he loves — to shun what he 
prohibits. " This is the will of God, even our 
sanctification ; " and, guided by that simple maxim, 
we are to go on unto perfection — we are to be 
perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect. 
Now, is that the aim of my soul ? Is it thus like- 
minded with God ? If it be, the Spirit is making 
all things new, and that soul, once disfigured and 
vile, is now on the way to the new Jerusalem. 

THE PROOF. 

" But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while w« 
were yet sinners, Christ died for us." — Rom. v. 8. 

THE CONVICTION. 

44 The hand on the mouth, and the mouth in the dust 
Is the posture becoming in man; 
When his proud heart would dare, by its glimmering light 
The ways of Jehovah to scan." 



"AND JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, FOXES HAVE HOLES, AND BIRDS 
OF THE AIR HAVE NESTS ; BUT THE SON OF MAN HATH NOT 
WHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD." — Luke ix. 58. 

"TTTHO uttered these pathetic words ? Jesus, the 
X ' Son of God, the Saviour of the sons of men; 
and as uttered by Him, do they not rank among 
the most remarkable of all the sentences that ever 
fell on mortal ear ? 

The beasts of the field have their cave, or their 
den, but the Son of God is a homeless wanderer on 
the earth which he made ! 

The birds of the air have nests constructed with 
rarest art, and with a view to perfect accommoda- 
tion ; but when they retired to these, there to re- 
pose for the night, the Son of God had to retire 
to the desert, there to weep, and agonize, and pray, 
till his locks were wet with the dews of heaven. 

" By him were all things created that are in 
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, 
whether they be thrones or dominions, or princi- 
palities or powers, all things were created by him 
and for him ; and he is over all things, and by him 
all things consist." And yet amid this mighty 
apparatus for promoting his glory, not a spot was 
found where the Holy One could repose, [t was the 
monarch exiled by his rebel subjects — it was the 



THE AFFLUENCE OF WOE. 1*27 

beneficent parent banished by those over whom he 
was tenderly watching. 

And why all this? Whence such abundant mi- 
sery—such affluence of woe ? It was that man 
might for ever rejoice. The tears and the agonies 
of the Saviour atoned for the sins of the saved. 
Did he wander over Palestine without a home ? 
It was to secure for us an abode in the house of 
many mansions. Did he endure agony ? did all 
forsake him and flee ? It was that he might pur- 
chase for us the company of the just made perfect 
for ever. Was he a friendless and despised man ? 
It was that " the love of God which passeth know- 
ledge," might be unto all them that believe. Praise 
God, then, praise his holy name, at the remembrance 
of such mingled mercy, and love, and wisdom; and 
while the heart and soul are abased at the thought 
of a Saviour's agony, let them exult in his triumph ; 
for it is his purpose that, through grace, all his 
ransomed should share it. 

THE PROOF. 

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father 
in his throne." — Rev. iii. 21. 

THE HYMN. 

" Who would not mourn V The Saviour dies, 
The thorn-crown round his brow. 
Who would not joy V The, Crucified 
Is throned in glory now." 



" IN CHRIST JESUS, YE WHO SOMETIMES WERE FAR OFF, ARB 
MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST." — Epfl. ft. 13. 

NOUGHT else could suffice whether for Jew 
or Gentile. Not the cattle on a thousand 
hills — not our children made to pass through the 
fire to some bloody Moloch — -not our bodies given 
to be burned — not anguish on man's part like that 
of Juggernaut, nor the terrible penance of the super- 
stition-stricken devotee. The exclusive, the divine 
method of reconciliation, is the blood of Christ shed 
on the cross, which guides us first to God's favor 
upon earth, and then to a crown of glory in the skies. 
But how ? What is the mighty virtue of that 
atonement ? How does it make those nigh who 
were before afar off ? It w T as written, " The soul 
that sinneth shall die." The Saviour died the 
substitute of his people, and so becomes their peace. 
It was written again, " Cursed is every one that 
continueth not in all the law." Man did not con- 
tinue in it; but the Saviour kept it — he magni- 
fied it — he bore its curse — - he exhausted its pe- 
nalty — and so again he is our peace ; we are made 
nigh by his blood. Alienated once, we are recon- 
ciled now. Enmity once, we are constrained by 
love now. Darkness once, we are now light in 
the Lord. Once far from God, and far from right- 



THE OPEN FOUNTAIN. 129 

eousness, we are at length restored to our lon«-- 
lost rank by Him who was man that He might 
endure, and God, that he might give infinite worth 
to his endurance. 

Here, then, is the pillar and the ground of the 
believer's hope. Here he may rejoice with a por- 
tion of the joy which is unspeakable and full of 
glory. Being washed in the fountain open for sin, 
he is prepared to walk with God again in spirit 
and in truth; and while he sojourns, a pilgrim and 
a stranger here, his life is hid with Christ in God — 
his heart is in a better country, his Father's home on 
high. 



THE PROOF. 



"Now therefore ye, are no more strangers and foreigners, but 
fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."— . 

Fph. \\ 1Q 



Eph. ii. 19. 



THE HYMN. 



"Trembling, weeping, dark, and sad — 
See the soul by Satan bound. 
Hymns of praise most sweetly singing — 
See the soul which grace has found. 

" Although a pilgrim here below, 

That saint is walking with his God, 
Brought nigh to Him, nor grief nor jar 
Can tempt him from his loved abocfo." 



"WITHOUT CONTROVERSY, GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GOLV 

lijsejs.'' — i Tim. iii. 16. 

IT is fathomless — it is inscrutable — it prostrates 
proud but puny man in the dust. God was 
manifest in the flesh. The Word, by which all 
things were made — the Creator — was made flesh 
and dwelt among us. God in very deed dwelt 
among men on the earth, and there reflected the 
purities of heaven amid all that was polluting here 
below. 

And O! mark what beatitudes are involved in 
this mystery of godliness ! 

By means of it, we can acquaint ourselves with 
God again ; for he that has seen the Son hath seen 
the Father also, and that suffices. 

By means of that mystery, an atonement be- 
comes possible, for no creature could make recon- 
ciliation, and without shedding of blood there is 
no remission. 

By means of that mystery, a righteousness is 
provided for the sinner, which even Jehovah can 
smile on, for it is his own. 

By means of it, the gulf which separates the 
sinless Creator from the sinful creature is bridged 
over : all who will may now draw nigh, and walk 
with God as Enoch did. 






GOD IN CHRIST. 13] 

Now, without recounting more, may not the soul 
re-echo the words which the Spirit taught the apos- 
tle to employ, "Without controversy, great is the 
mystery of godliness?" There the soul can find 
its God; and more than that, it can there prepare 
to be for ever with Him. Terror is all hushed 
now, for God is in Christ reconciling sinners to 
himself. Nothing greater than Jehovah can be 
thought of by man ; nothing less could satisfy the 
cravings of his immortal and once god-like nature. 
Here, therefore, in the plenitude of Godhead as 
revealed in Christ, man finds the exhaustless foun- 
tain of his felicity, and having found it, he is ready 
to exclaim, u This is my rest, here I will stay, for 
I do like it." Is it so. my soul, with thee ? Is 
this mystery of godliness thy exceeding joy ? Then 
thou art Spirit-taught. Thou art one of those with 
whom He who is the mystery of godliness delights to 
dwell. 

THE FROOF. 

"No man knoweth who the Father is but the Son, and 

he to whom the Son will reveal Him." — Luke x. 22. 

THE HYMN. 

"Man's woe began when Satan dared 
God's image to efface; 
Man's joy returns when Chrii.t restore* 
That image by his grace" 



%\t (gjofffblg Juiiage. 

**THE LORD IS MY PORTION, SAITH MY SOUL." — Lam, \l\. 2&. 

"the lord's portion is his people." — Deut. xxxii. 9. 

THESE two related truths may well take rank 
among the wonders of redeeming love. " The 
Lord is the portion of his people." He does not 
leave them to feed upon vanity or ashes. It is not 
to the trifles of an hour, or even of an age, that 
they are abandoned. The Lord himself, the author 
of their being, and of all besides, is their enriching 
heritage. 

And again, " The Lord's portion is his people." 
The love, the choice, is reciprocal. The redeemed 
are the peculiar heritage of Jehovah, as He is 
theirs. It is not in the worlds which he has ere 
ated, or the glory of the firmament, whether we 
view it at midnight or mid-day ; it is not in the 
richness and the luxuriance of earth, that the only 
wise God finds what advances his joy to the high- 
est : it is in his redeemed, in those, namely, for 
whom the Saviour died, who have been sprinkled 
with atoning blood, and whom the Holy Spirit has 
renewed. Creation evinces God's power and God- 
head, but the ransomed soul does more : it reflects 
the image of the Holy One, and is destined to an 
existence coeval with his own. Now, does my soul 
thus form an item in the portion of Jehovah ? An 



PL K AS ANT PLACES. 133 

I counted among his heritage ? In the day when 
he shall make up his jewels, will it appear that my 
immortal spirit ranks among them, and that my 
redemption is for ever to be deepening the bliss of 
the Most High ? Then hosanna to the Son of 
David ! Blessed is he who has come in the name 
of the Lord to save us ! There is not a ransomed 
soul which may not now exclaim, " Surely the 
lines have fallen to us in pleasant places ; we have 
gotten a goodly heritage " — as all my springs are 
in God, my redemption shall enhance the felicity 
of Godhead, world without end. The famished 
prodigal is the emblem of him who seeks some 
other portion. John reposing in the bosom of the 
Saviour is the representative of those whose minds 
are stayed on God. 

THE PROOF. 

"Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for 
himself." — Psalm iv. 3. . 

" Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon 
earth that I desire besides thee."— Psalm lxxiii. 25. 

THE HYMN. 

" Could all the shining orbs on high, 
Or all the teeming wealth of earth, 
Fill up that void within the breast 
To which revolt from God gave birth? 

"Nay, all the myriad worlds that roll 
Along the azure dome of Heaven, 
"Would only mock the aching soul 
Till back the love of God be given." 



$Ijc §jofIbntM at Jfailfe. 

" HAVING BOLDNESS TO ENTER THE HOLIEST BY THE BLOOD 01» 

jesus." — Htb. x. 19. 

TO be permitted to enter the holiest — the pre- 
sence of God — at all, surely ranks among the 
highest of the privileges which man can enjoy. 
But to be permitted to enter with boldness — to come 
without slavish fear, but animated rather by the 
spirit of adoption, and confiding in the Holy God 
who cannot look on sin, constitutes one of the chief 
wonders of redeeming love, yet one in which the 
contrite soul may most assuredly rejoice. Nay 
more : the more boldness he displays, the more is 
God glorified. To come as if He grudged a pardon, 
as if He were reluctant to blot out iniquity, or to 
admit us into the Holiest, is to grieve his Spirit, 
or undervalue his love. But to come perfectly 
abased as to ourselves, yet confiding in the finished 
work of Christ, and understanding that God is 
more glorified in forgiving through him, than in 
condemning our race had no Mediator appeared — ■ 
that is the right evangelical ground, and the right 
evangelical spirit. As long as I think that sal- 
vation in any degree depends on me, I cannot but 
come before God with fear and trembling. But 
when I see that the work was finished in the 
divine counsels before the world began, and actually 



TIIK RELIGION OF GOD 135 

accomplished at Jerusalem in the fulness of time, 
then the spirit of bondage disappears. The soul 
glories now in the Lord; God is honored, and man 
is at once exalted and abased — abased as a sinner, 
exalted as one to whose conscience that blood which, 
cleanses from all sin has been applied. 

And how is the case with my soul ? Let every 
one who would deal faithfully regarding his eter- 
nal concerns solemnly say, Have I learned to come 
boldly through the blood of Jesus ? Then my reli- 
gion is the religion which God has revealed, which 
came from heaven and which guides us to it. But 
do 1 still come haunted by fear, as if God would 
not hear and answer, even for Christ's sake ? Then 
my religion is not yet God's ; I need the unction 
of the Holy One to show me the liberty which the 
Son of God imparts. 

THE PROOF. 

" Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath 
made ns free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of 
bondage." — Gal. v. 1. 

THE HYMN. 

" As morning lifts her dewy veil 
To smile on earth and sea, 
So heavenly love illumines man — 
Would that it beamed on me! 

" But why should doubt becloud the mind , ' , 
Why trembling seek our God? 
Has Christ not died? Is peace not made 
By His atoning blood? " 



" WHO CAN BRING A CLEAN THING OUT OF AN UNCLEAN ? NO* 

one." — Job xiv. 4. 

AND yet that must be done ere man can have 
solid hope. It is not enough that sin be 
cancelled. Merely to blot my iniquities from the 
book of God's remembrance, would not make me fit 
for heaven. The pure must supplant the polluted, 
ere the soul can be prepared for glory, and the 
society of the just made perfect. It is the sure 
decree of God, that nothing that defiles, nothing 
that loves or makes a lie, can ever stand before 
him ; and the first act of faith, therefore, is to lead 
us to the fountain opened for sin, to sprinkle us 
with the blood which cleanses from it all. Trans- 
formed by that new-creating Spirit, whose work and 
glory it is to make the Ethiopian change his skin 
and the leopard his spots, we start on that career 
which ends where eternity is our existence, and 
the Eternal our portion. 

And from the moment that that work is begun, 
it advances and grows till we reach the stature 
of perfection. We cannot but grow in grace. 
Instead of comparing ourselves among ourselves, 
the divine Standard becomes our rule, and our 
life-long aim is to press nearer and nearer to it. 
If, then, that be my aim — if I am seeking to go oa 






HOPE. 137 

unto perfection, to grow in grace, to wash my 
hands in innocency, and hate every false way — if 
I am learning to endure no wicked thing before 
me, but evermore to seek to be more holy, more 
humble, more Christ-like, then may hope be che- 
rished for such a soul; it may begin to ting in the 
good way of the Lord : that holiness without which 
no man shall see Him is apparent, and lie who has 
begun the good work will carry it on to completion : 
He will present that soul to himself at last, without 
spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The Saviour will 
eternally behold in it the travail of his soul, while it 
will eternally behold in the Saviour the chief among 
ten thousand, and altogether lovely. To aim at that 
is the true ambition, while that soul is contented to 
grovel in the dust which has not learned " earnestly 
to covet that best gift." 

THE PROOF. 

"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created 
In righteousness and true holiness." — Ephes. iv. 24. 

THE HYMN. 

" Upward, my heart ! 
Thy Saviour smiles; 
Haste, seek his grace, 

What snare beguiles? 

11 Covet his glory, 

Welcome his peace, 
Cherish his Spirit — 
Then bondage will cease." 



Sinngilj in ^SUsfenm. 

41 WHEN I AM WEAK, TilEN AM t STRONG. — 2 Cor. xii. 10. 

SUCH is the experience of every child of God — 
weak in himself, but strong in the Lord, 
unstable as water, and unable to excel, yet able to 
do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens 
him. And let the earnest soul rejoice that it is not 
our strength that Jehovah requires, for our strength 
is his rival. It is our weakness, and that is his 
glorifier : His strength is made perfect thereby, and 
so his ransomed rejoice. 

Here, then, is the secret of the believer's strength 
— to lay hold of the right arm which wields the 
world. Is that believer compassed about with 
sorrow ? Is his heart sinking within him, under 
some pressing or some dreaded calamity ? Is it old 
age, with its heavy burden and its frequent friend- 
lessness ? Is it poverty, with its long train of woes ? 
Is it the crushing burden of sin ? Is it coming 
death, and after death the judgment? Whatever it 
may be, the believer's strength is found in clinging 
to the right arm of the redeemer's righteousness. 
He should cast his burden on the Lord, w T ho can 
bear the weakest up under the pressure of six 
troubles, yea of seven. It is thus that we learn 
why Paul gloried in infirmities ; thus that we feel 



peace to the troubled. 139 

wv are made more than conquerors, and thus that 
we Learn to admire the loving-kindness of the Lord 
in upholding the weak, investing them with his 
own omnipotence as a shield, or defending them 
from extinction like a spark in the ocean. And 
do not forget the mysterious might of the Sa- 
viour's weakness, who conquered death, and tri- 
umphed over the grave, while they seemed to rush 
on to destroy him. It was by submission that he 
vanquished, and in his strengih the worm Jacob will 
do the same. " Thy strength is to sit still." " Be 
still and know that I am God " is a fountain 
at once of strength to the weak, and of peace to 
the troubled. 

THE PROOF. 

" Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; I will help 
thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." 
— Isaiah xli. 14. 

THE TRIUMPH. 

" Poor, and yet rich, God's holy ones 
Are by the world unknown; 
When hated, love repays the ill — 
They know that He will own. 

" Cast down, but not forsaken; 

Oppressed, yet gladdened 'still 
Beviled by man, and blest by God, 
They welcome all His will." 



%\t Stag of t§t Saint. 

'''their strength is to sit still. 1 ' — Isaiah xxx 7. 

VAIN is the help of man. To go to Egypt or 
Assyria for help — -that is, to the Lord's ene- 
mies for strength to fight his battles — 4s to sin against 
the Holy One. When troubles come and danger 
lowers, far better to be still, and know that He is 
God, than to trust in princes or men's sons, in 
whom there is no stay. 

Is sin assailing us with some strong temptation, 
and threatening to sweep every good thing in the 
soul before it ? Then stand still, my soul, but stand 
in faith, and thou shalt see the salvation of our God. 

Or have the effects of sin come upon us like 
a flood ? Are we like the Hebrews of old at 
Pi-hahiroth, when the rocks hemmed them in on 
either side, while Pharaoh was behind, and the 
Red Sea before ? Still a believer's strength is to 
sit still : if he sit still in faith, God will work, and 
none shall hinder. The extremity of his people 
is the time for Him to rise and show that He is 
God indeed — even their God, to rescue and shield. 

Or is the aged pilgrim near the close of his 
journey ? Does he see the vista of this weary 
life closed by an open grave — the portals of 
eternity? Then also man's strength is to sit still, 



WAITING UPON GOD. 141 

for " they that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
their strength ; they shall mount up on wings a9 
eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; they 
shall walk and not faint." Wait on the Lord, 
tlien ; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen 
thine heart: wait, I say, upon the Lord. In patience 
possess your soul, and all that can impede a be- 
liever's heavenward progress will either be taken 
out of the way, or made to minister to his pro- 
gress. As burnishing brightens steel, and the cru- 
cible tests the gold, so trials and temptations teach 
the child of God where his strength is found. 

THE PROOF. 

" Be still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among the 
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." — Psalm xlvi. 10. 

THE HYMN. 

M Like the palm trees of Elim to Israel of old, 

The Lord is our shelter and rest; 
And the soul that is canopied under his love 
May taste of the joys of the blest. 

M Have sin and its follies still power to seduce? 
Then our portion can only be woe; 
But, strong in h*s f^ace^^ are we armed for the fight? 
'ilieu, k'jf>amih,l we vanquish the fc/i,' 1 



t Spirit at JUIiitm. 

"kkcw te not that ye are the temple of GOD, ASCI 

THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLETH IN YOU." — 1 G>r. ill- 16 

SUCH honor have all God's saints, and this in- 
dwelling of the Spirit is surely to be ranked 
among the highest privileges which the ransomed 
of the Lord enjoy on earth. 

But, O my soul, let it lay thee in the dust to 
notice the results which flow from this privilege ; 
and beware lest thou approach the sin against the 
Holy Ghost, and earn the woe pronounced on Cho- 
razin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Is indwelling 
sin struggling for the mastery? The more on that 
account honor the indwelling Spirit. Is temptation 
assailing? Then reinforce thy purpose to resist it, 
by recollecting that thou art a temple of the Holy 
Ghost ; that He dwells in thee, and seeks to spread 
a purity like that of heaven throughout all the 
functions of the inner man. Or hast thou sumed? 
Dost thou call to mind the transgressions cf thy 
youth, and art thou compelled to sit ir the dust, 
and mourn in thy complaint, because of " the abo- 
minable thing?" Then, O let it deepen thy shame, 
and call forth a profounder penitence, to remember 
that that sin was committed under the very eye of 
the Author of holiness ; that it was done in spite of 
bis strivings ; that He was grieved whilst thou wert 



THE SPIRIT OF LOVE. 143 

sinning ; and if he is not quenched, it is because he 
is God and not man. 

Yet be encouraged also. That very Spirit is the 
Spirit of love. It is he that sprinkles us with the 
blood which cleanses, and if the consciousness of 
tin urge thee nearer to the fountain, the God of 
pardons will be glorified there: thou shalt be abased, 
and holy circumspection against future sin promot- 
ed. It is thus that the Holy One makes the wrath 
of man to praise him, and thus that the remem- 
brance of our sins in the past is overruled to pro- 
mote our circumspection for the future. And if it 
be thus with sinners in general, surely it should 
happen most of all with those who rank among 
"the chief." To have sinned against grace, against 
light, against privilege, and countless mercies, may 
well teach us to walk humbly with our God, and 
often to exclaim, " to grace how great a debtor ! " 

THE PROOF. 

" Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy 
shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men." — Matt. xii. 31. 

THE HYMN. 

11 Like some fair flower from sunny climes, 
Nipt by the northern blast, 
(ffrace pines and droops whene'er the Sun 
Of souls is overcast. 

u Pnt does the Spirit screen the germ? 
Do heavenly dews descend ? 
Than like the gales of Araby, 
These dews sweet odors send." 



lt THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH THEE THAT THOU MAY ST BF 

feared." — Psalm cxxx. 4. 

THERE is no discovery more rare than that God 
is a God of mercy. All men think, indeed, 
that they believe it, but they are only believing a 
delusion. They believe that a being whom they call 
God is merciful; but that God is a creature of their 
own fancy — easy, indulgent, and, in truth, not holy 
- — not the God who " will by no means clear the 
guilty." And when men are undeceived, when the 
Spirit of truth has showed them the true character 
of God, as a just God and an holy, men who 
were formerly full of hope speedily begin to despair. 
Some who formerly supposed that they were re- 
posing on the mercy of God, discover that they 
were only trying to hide from Him in some refuge 
of lies ; and of all the attempts which man can 
make, the most difficult is to convince an awakened 
sinner that God will have mercy upon him. Even 
the word of the Faithful and the True Witness 
does not assure such a soul. 

And never till men see the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ, do they believe in his pardon 
ing mercy ; nor till they see how Christ died, the 
just for the unjust, can they hope in their God. 
Before that, they may presume — only after it can 



HOPE — DESPAIR. 145 

they honor and confide in Him whose tender mer- 
cies are over all His other works, in Jesus Christ 
our Lord. 

Now, is it on God's covenant mercy that my soul 
is reposing, or on some delusive figment, the phan- 
tom mercy of a fictitious God ? There is forgiveness 
with God : He delights to pardon, and a thousand 
passages prove it ; but it is pardon in a peculiar 
way — through the Mediator of the eternal covenant, 
or not at all. Hope thou in that, and God will be 
feared ; but hope in aught besides, and that hope 
will be quenched in despair. And O how blessed 
is the soul when it is taught by the Spirit to be- 
lieve that its transgression is forgiven, that its sin 
is covered, and that the Lord imputes no iniquity ! 
The kingdom of God is then set up within us, and 
guided by the wisdom which comes from above, we 
shall dwell at last and for ever upon God's holy 
mountain. 

THE TKOOF. 

"Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniqui- 
ties." — Psalm li. 9. 

THE HYMN. 

" With faith to save, and Love to warm, 
And Hope to light our way, 
The skyward path we tread with joy, 
Our God our strength and stay. 

"The pilgrim's stall' we all must grasp, 
The warrior's shield must bear; 
But nerved by grace, the pardoned soul 
Each spiritual foe can dare." 

M 



"ye are complete in him." — Col. ii. 10. 

C COMPLETE for acceptance with God, and jus- 
J tifieation before Him ; for we are made the 
righteousness of God in Christ. 

— Complete for competing with all the ills of life 
though the j may, in God's holy providence, come 
rolling in like wave upon wave in a troubled sea. 

— Complete for resisting all the assaults of in- 
dwelling sin within, and temptation from without, 
if we rest on the grace provided, or the strength 
which is almighty. 

Not complete in holiness yet, but complete in all 
that is needed to help us to perfect holiness in the 
fear of the Lord. 

— Complete for meeting God in judgment, if we 
will consent to plead the finished work, the perfect 
righteousness of the Son of God, the Saviour of the 
sons of men. Poor, and wretched, and miserable, 
and naked in ourselves, we may yet be accepted in 
the Beloved ; according to the mind of God, we are 
to be presented unto Him at last without spot, or 
wrinkle, or any such thing. 

" Complete in Christ" then — be that the sheet- 
anchor, the refuge, the asylum of the soul. Never 
can the Holy One justify or sanction what is in- 
complete ; and my reason and my conscience tell 



LOOKING UNTO JESCS. 147 

me, that if He were to justify what is imperfect, 
He would himself become imperfect also. But let 
all that is within me bless God's holy name : He 
Lealeth all our diseases ; He cleanses us from all 
our iniquity ; He redeems Israel from all his trans- 
gressions ; and though the believer, when thus visited 
in mercy, may be deeply abased at the remembrance 
of his sins, yet looking unto Jesus, he can through 
him look unto God and hope. 

But the question recurs to the anxious soul — 
How may / be made complete? My iniquities have 
gone over my head ; they have cried to the justice 
of God for punishment ; how then can I be com- 
plete ? The answer is, " All things are possible, 
only believe." Let faith rest upon the Saviour of 
the lost, and then, by the appointment of God we are 
righteous with the Saviour's righteousness ; we are 
strong in the Saviour's strength, and preparing for 
the Saviour's heaven. 

THE PROOF. 

u To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made 
as accepted in the Beloved." — Eph. i. 6. 

THK HYMN. 

*• Polluted man would climb to heaven, 
And claim a welcome there; 
But ransomed souls, * complete in Christ/ 
Alone its joy* can share." 



%\t WhW »s- 



m HB LED THEM FORTH BY THE RIGHT WAY, 1HAT THEY 
MIGHT GO TO A CITY OF HABITATION." — Psalm Cvii. 7. 

IT was not the most direct path by which the 
Hebrews were led from Egypt to Canaan. Nay, 
there were countless windings in it. For their 
waywardness they had often to retrace their steps ; 
and after weeks, or months, or years of weary wan- 
dering, you might find them farther from the land of 
promise than when that period began. But in so far 
as their Lord and King was leading, it was still the 
right way — 

— It was the right way to humble them and re- 
prove their waywardness. 

It was the right way to show that it was not lor 
their sakes that the Lord chose the Hebrews as a 
people to himself. 

It was the right way to wean them from self-con- 
fidence. 

it was the right way to train them for the land of 
promise. 

And it was the right way to make their wanderings 
in the desert a model for the believer's wanderings 
through this world to a better. 

Now, has my soul seen the wisdom of God in thus 
leading the Hebrews ? Is it plain that in very faith- 
fulness he afflicted them, and that even when the fiery 



"words to the heart." 149 

serpents came, or when the earth opened for the 
guilty, it was all to unveil the character of Jehovah 
as "the Just God and the Holy?" 

If these discoveries be made, let the soul which 
has made them rejoice : the pillar of cloud and of 
fire which guided the Hebrews of old, will con- 
duct it to glory. And O, let it never be forgotten 
by whose power rough places in the desert are still 
made smooth, and high places still made level. Had 
some one become a pauper to enrich us, what should 
be our feelings towards him ? If some one had gone 
into exile, that we might be free to return to our 
father's home, what should be our gratitude? If 
some one had submitted to degradation and death, 
that we might be exa ed, how should we respond to 
that interposition ? Now, in all these ways, the 
Shepherd of Israel has acted towards those whom 
he is guiding. How strange, then, how infatuated 
they who refuse even to be guided in the right way 
to the city of our God ! 



THE PROOF. 



" Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into tlrs wil- 
derness, and speak comfortably unto her." — Hosea ii. 14. 



THE HYMN. 



44 In exile from his native heaven, 
The lowly Saviour dwelt — 
O why his tears, his woes, his tomb? 
He bore his people's guilt." 



n §l0rg uf pan. 

"partakers of the divine nature/' — 2 Peter \ 4. 

rjTHIS seems the consummation of religion. It is 
JL paradise renewed, for it is God restored to man, 
and man to God. It is the soul at rest, sanctified, 
and serenely blessed, whatever be the trials of its 
earthly lot. 

It is true, many have perverted this doctrine, 
as if man were to be absorbed into Godhead, as 
rivers are lost in the ocean, or drops in the river. 
"Souls lose their unity," said a mystic, "and in 
that loss become one with God ; " and " there are 
graces by which the souls waich possess them be- 
come truly gods, by being made partakers of the 
Divine nature." But these are wild exaggerations, 
or perversions of the truth. According to it, we 
love as God loves ; we shun what God forbids ; 
we pursue what he appoints, when our nature has 
been renewed. Being made one spirit with the 
Lord, we are like-minded with him ; but to speak 
of partaking of the essence of Godhead, is either 
blasphemy on the one hand, or pantheism on the 
other. Not fused into the Divine essence, but holy, 
for God is holy ; yea, " perfect even as our Father 
in heaven is perfect" — behold the supreme and 
the true ambition of man, the true meaning of our 
being partakers of the Divine nature, through his 



FOLLOWING THE J. AMU. 151 

promises of truth. Rejoice, then, my soul, that 
it is thy destiny in Christ, to wear God's image as 
Adam wore it at the first. It may be with thee as 
witti him who said — 

" let my heart, by fatal absence rent, 
Feel what I sing, and bleed while I lament; 
Who roams in exile from his parent bower, 
Pants to return, and chides each lingering hour." 

l^ut all will end in blessedness at last, when the 
ransomed shall be for ever with the Lord ; when 
they shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he leads, 
and literally and for ever live, and move, and have 
their being in God. The religion which the Spirit 
of God plants by his omnipotent grace in the heart, 
would not have been complete had it stopped short 
of restoring God to man. That is the universal 
want of fallen human nature; be that want supplied, 
and " that sufficeth." 



TIIE riiOOF. 

41 He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit " - 1 Coe. vi. 17. 

THE HYMN. 

"An aching void within the troubled breast; 
A dreary doom which baffles mortal power; 
Woe piled on woe, no spot whereon to rest; 
Behind, remorse — before, dark terrors lower; — 

u Behold the picture of man's guilty state, 

When Retribution, urged by Conscience, wakes: 
Yet, 4 God with us ' sheds hope upon the soul ; 
For Grace can rescue him that sadly quakes." 



M BEHOLD, THE BUSH BURNED WITH FIRE, AND THE BUSH WAS 

not consumed." — Exod. ill. 2. 

AN emblem this of God's holy truth in the 
world, and in the soul. The empire of the 
Redeemer, and its continued existence, are marvels 
upon earth. Assailed, corrupted, denied, or per- 
verted on every side, it still survives. The Spirit of 
life is its omnipotent defender, and were that not the 
ease, it would be swept from the face of the earth. 
Its existence is not merely threatened : it is an ano- 
maly — it is hidden, and cannot be discerned ; but. 
as far as it is known, it is offensive to millions. Yet 
still, amid all that is anomalous, or all that is mys- 
terious and unearthly there, "the bush is not con- 
sumed." Fear not, then — the Zionward soul may 
exclaim — He whose word called the universe into 
being, and whose will gives it law, is thy sure 
defence. His eye is ever on the truth. It may 
seem as if the little spark could be easily extin- 
guished, or the wasted body soon worn down, or the 
tempted soul soon overcome, or the truth which is 
like a grain of mustard seed easily crushed; but 
Omnipotence prevents it. That truth once planted 
in the soul, is indestructible like its Author. The 
little spark once kindled, can never be extinguished. 
The soul once renewed, is renewed for ever. 



THi: UNCHANGEABLE. 153 

"How happy we live if a shadow could last!" 
may well be the exclamation of the worldly ; but, 
"I am persuaded that God can keep what I have 
committed to his care," may be the response of 
the believing soul. And as I pass onward in my 
pilgrimage, I feel all these things more deeply 
gladdening. Friends die, but the Lord liveth ; 
the body decays, but the soul is renewed day by day. 
I find greater sweetness in the word, and greater 
firmness in faith, through the unction of the Holy 
One, as years pass away ; and though I feel that a 
single hour of self-reliance would ruin all, I can 
exult in the thought that " None can pluck us out 
of our Father's hand." 

THE PROOF. 

" For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angeb, 
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to 
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able 
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jenus, oar 
Lord." — Rom. viii. 38, 39. 

THE HYMN. 

"The firmest friends may change, 
The best beloved may leave us, 
Familiar ones grow strange, 
Or death of all bereave us. 

" Where is the love undying? 
The friend who never fails? 
On whom the heart relying 
May trust when grief assails ? 

" Behold the Lamb who beareth 
Believers' sins away: 
For such he ever careth — 
And now — as yesterday.'* 



%\t JUsbtttls fflitmt. 

"TnE SPIRIT ITSELF BEARETH WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT, 
THAT WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD." — Rom. Vlii. 1Q. 

THE more we ponder on the Word of God, the 
more profound do its lessons appear, and the 
loftier the privileges prepared for the children of 
God. Though " it doth not yet appear what we 
shall be," there are joys imparted and blessings 
made sure, such as may plant the believer on the 
threshold of heaven. How marvellous, for example, 
that the Spirit of God should dwell in the soul, and 
testify to the believer regarding his character and 
prospects ! First, that blessed visitant comes to 
convince us of sin ; then he converts us from it ; 
then he leads us into all truth — he shows us the 
things which are Christ's ; amid all our wayward- 
ness, he makes us " holiness to the Lord ; " and by 
applying the truth to the soul, by enabling us to 
feel its power, and live under its influence, he 
gradually produces the conviction, more or less 
strong according to the simplicity of our faith, 
that we are the children of God. He sheds light 
upon the holy page. He sheds light also upon our 
darkened minds ; and when the truth is thus stamped 
upon them, the result is the conviction that we 
are born of God — that we are renewed in the spirit 
of our mind. In other words, holiness is the result, 



TrTE u SIN UNTO DEATH." 155 

and as holiness, or Christ-likeness, is the family 
characteristic of the children of God, the soul, 
thus guided by the Spirit, grows assured that no- 
thing can separate it from the love of God which 
is in Christ Jesus. And surely every rational 
and self-loving man should covet earnestly this 
best gift, the proof and evidence of every other. 
Can he be rational in any saving sense, who grieves 
this Spirit, and so obliterates by his own hand every 
possible trace that he is born of God ? O man of 
God, flee these things. Remember that grieving the 
Holy Spirit of promise, is on the way to quenching 
Him, and quenching Him is the unpardonable sin. 
Every alternative has failed, and hope is for ever 
gone, when man is so mature in guilt that he is let 
alone by the Spirit to sin with a high hand, and yet 
without compunction or alarm. 

THE TEOOF. 

" Teach me to do thy will ; for thou art my God ; thy Spirit is 
good; lead me into the land of uprightness." — Psalm cxliii. 10. 

THE HYMN. 

" Would mortals know the power of truth 
Pure as it comes from heaven V 
Or taste its sweetness to the soul 
Which feels it is forgiven? 

"The Spirit comes — then truth is sweet 
As odours shed at eve ; 
And bright as are the radiant beams 
When first yon orb they leave." 



M I BESEECH THEE, SHOW ME THY GLORY." — Exod. XXxllJ. 18 

THY glory in Creation is transcendent ! The 
first question which it suggests baffles my 
power — How was all this summoned into being out 
of nothing ? I am silent, and adore, for I cannot 
comprehend. 

Thy glory in Providence is ineffable. From the 
sand-grain to the globe — from an atom to unnum- 
bered worlds — all is under thy control. Every 
movement thou dost regulate. Every want thou 
dost supply. " The eyes of all things wait on thee." 
" Not a sparrow falls to the ground without our 
heavenly Father." 

But thy glory in Redemption transcends all 
these. Show me that glory — the glory which 
beamed in him who is the express image of thy 
person. O answer the prayer, and show me " the 
light of the knowledge of thy glory in the face of 
Jesus Christ ! " 

— The glory of thy justice, untarnished even while 
thou passest by the transgressions of thy people, or 
while thou savest even the ungodly. 

— The glory of thy mercy, rejoicing over judgment, 
and not willing that any should perish- — nay, blot- 
ting out iniquity, and not remembering transgres- 
sion. 



THE IMAGE OF GOD. ],">7 

— The glory of thy love, when thou didst give up 
thy Son to die that man might live. 

— The glory of thy long-suffering in bearing with 
the wayward amid ten thousand sins. 

— The glory of thy power, in making even me 
more than a conqueror. 

— The glory of thy faithfulness, in completing the 
work which thou hast begun, and guiding many 
sons and daughters to glory. Through Him who 
is the Head of the whole creation, the image of the 
invisible God, enlighten my darkened soul. While 
I am yet speaking, do thou hear; and grant that 
I may be transformed into thine image, from glory 
to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. At the 
contemplation of all this, my soul, conscious as it 
is of guilt, shrinks back, as if it were baseless pre- 
sumption in me to hope that this should be my 
portion. But is it not upon thine own truth that 
we repose? In that also thy glory is displayed; 
and reposing there, the soul grows strong — it enjoys 
in foretaste the glory of the ransomed. 



THE PROOF. 



u xv [• Go j' w ° comm ancled the light to shine out of darkness 
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of 
the glory of God m the face of Jesus Christ." — 2 Cor. iv. 6. 

THE HYMN. 

" God's glory beams once more on man — 
No phantom bliss His love bestows; 
In Christ we see the Father shine, 

And hail the source whence glory flows." 

N 



t <i>lxtYmut at ®iu, 



"BY THE OBEDIENCE OF 0> T E, SHALL MANY BE MADE HIGH* 

eous." — Rom. v. 19. 

T^HIS is the key-note of the Gospel; upon this 
every thing depends. The law was magnified by 
one, even by its Author. Every jot and tittle was 
upheld. All its penalty was exhausted, and by the 
death of " one " for *' many," the curse was averted 

— the woe which it entailed was rolled away : so 
that in that respect, as well as many others, the 
believer in Jesus can now rejoice in the liberty 
which he imparts. 

But how made righteous ? By the decision of 
the Judge himself. The righteousness of the " One," 
received by faith in terms of the divine appointment, 
covers each soul of the " many ; " and clothed there- 
with, every believing one is pardoned and accepted' 

— is righteous with the righteousness of God — 
and obtains an inheritance among the ransomed 
for ever. 

And what exactly is the province of faith in this 
transaction ? Simply to receive what God offers ; 
it is the hand which takes and keeps hold of the 
gift. It is not a work. It has no merit. It merely 
welcomes what God in mercy confers. So far from 
possessing any intrinsic power, it is the peculiar 
province of faith to take man out of himself, as 



THE REASONABLE SERVICE. 159 

poor, and needy, and helpless, that he may receive 
and rest upon another. Faith, moreover, is a gift 
of God ; so that in every sense, its office is to denude 
the creature, and teach him to glory only in the Lord. 
And surely there can be nothing more glorifying to 
God, or gladdening to man, than to be "made right- 
eous " on terms so simple, so godlike, and so perfect ? 
Is it not our reasonable service to dedicate ourselves, 
souls and bodies, living sacrifices to Him, who 
provided, and who offered the gift which thus jus- 
tifies and saves, and places us in the vestibule of 
heaven ? 

THE PROOF. 

" Whom God hath set forth .... to declare 
his righteousness; that He might be just, and the justifier of him 
that belie veth in Jesus." — Rom. iii. 25, 26. 

THE HYMN. 

" With bloody rites the heathen try 
To turn awav their idols' ire: 
But glory to our God on high \ 

Christ's woes at once our hopes inspire. 

" With hearts, and thoughts, and deeds impure, 
Sin-blinded men would meet their God; 
And claim for their eternal home, 
His stainless and serene abode. 

"But, my soul, repose alone 
Upon the Rock in Zion laid, 
Thv onlv plea— Christ's finished work, 
Thy hope — the great atonement n&de." 



%\t lUmp at Jem. 

" IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL. AND JUST TO 
FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UN- 
RIGHTEOUSNESS." — 1 John i. 9. 

HP HIS is one of the most wonderful of all the 
J- sayings which embody the gospel of the grace 
of God. That the Holy One should be just to 
punish, we can easily understand, but that he should 
be just to pardon, just to be merciful, just to save 
the sinner from self-ruin, and self-inflicted everlast- 
ing woe ; that ranks among the most marvellous of 
the divine disclosures. 

And yet such is the basis laid for the sinner's joy 
and consolation, when that sinner becomes a believer ; 
the very attribute which frowns in terrible majesty 
on the guilty soul becomes the guaranty of that 
believer. Justice, satisfied by a divine Substitute 
and Surety, ceases to demand the sinner's condem- 
nation ; nay, it proclaims that there is no condem- 
nation for them that believe ; it enforces these glad 
tidings by the assurance that God is faithful and just 
to forgive ; his word is pledged; his favor is made 
sure by two immutable things, God's unchanging 
truth, and God's untarnishable justice : The trem- 
bling transgressor may have good hope through 
graoe, when he flees like a prisoner of hope to 
the stronghold of the gospel — the cityr of refuge 
for the soul. 



TIIK MYSTERY SOLVED. 161 

While we gaze on those wondrous galvanic wires 
which now line certain of our great highways, it is 
possible that there may be rushing along them 
some message of deep and startling import. They 
may be charged with death to some criminal who 
is about to be arrested ; or with freedom to some 
prisoner who is to be released. It may be a 
message which shall plunge one family into woe, 
or elevate another to a pinnacle of happiness ; but 
merely by gazing we cannot read the message. 
And so, while man is pondering the question, How 
will God deal with sinners? we cannot, cannot 
answer it, as long as we have only reason or con- 
science to guide us. But open the book of God ; 
hear the Divine mind; and there He speaks peace 
to his people. He bids us delight in the abundance 
of peace ; and the very fountain-head of that felicity 
is, that God is "faithful and just to forgive." 

THE PROOF. 

"Peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near. 
saith the Lord; and I will heal him." —Isaiah lvii. 19. 

THE HYMN. 

" The flaming sword of Chembims 

Drove guilty man from Eden's bowers; 
But now that sword in mercy gleams 
To point the way to Salem's towers.-' 



«« 



JUuption. 



" BEHOLD, WHAT MANNER OF LOVE THE FATHER HATH BE- 
STOWED UPON US, THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED THE SC NS OF 

god." — 1 John iii. 1. 

LIGHTNING is ever the brightest when it is seen 
playing on the bosom of a dark thunder-cloud ; 
and the love of God appears most conspicuous when 
seen against the dark background of man's enmity 
against him. It was with some such feeling of 
contrast that John exclaimed, " Behold what man- 
ner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us ! " 
It was not ordinary love, or love in ordinary cir- 
cumstances — it was love to creatures in a state of 
rebellion. It was not love to those who were suing 
for mercy, or soliciting favor; but to creatures 
whose hearts were stout against their God. Or it 
was not such love as would merely rank us among 
the hired servants ; it made us sons, the very sons 
of God. The Spirit of his Son was shed abroad in 
our hearts — we could thus call our God our Father. 
Through the first-born of many brethren, we were 
made members of the family of the redeemed, and 
in Him we acquired a right to all the privileges of 
children. No more aliens, or strangers. No more 
enemies, or rebels. No more fighting against God. 
Nay, we repose upon his love ; and borne up there- 
by, the soul of the believer, though humbled to 
the dust by the loving-kindness of the Lord, can 



THE NEW JERUSALEM. 163 

yet anticipate the existence where faith shall cease, 
for it will have clone its work ; and hope shall be 
over, for fruition will have taken its place ; and 
love — the love of God to the redeemed, and of the 
redeemed to God — shall be paramount in the New 
Jerusalem — the home of the blessed who have been 
cleansed in atoning blood. Is that thy portion, O 
my soul? 

Amid all the blessings which redeeming blood 
has secured for man, there is none more precious 
than this. In prayer, how harassing to come as a 
slave, dreading rejection and repulse ! but how sooth- 
ing to approach the throne as children approach- 
ing a father, assured of a welcome, and of blessings 
beyond what mortal eye has seen ! That is the 
spirit which all should cherish ; and were it che- 
rished as it ought to be, the complaint of old, " If 
I be a father, where is mine honor?" would cease 
for ever. 

THE PROOF. 

" Because ye are sons, God bath sent forth the Spirit of his Son 
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." — Gal. iv. 6 

THE HYMN. 

u See that fond parent share her crust 

With those around her heart entwined; 
Mark how she screens from every blast 
That babe upon her breast reclined. 

" And shall a heavenly Father less 
Regard the objects of his care? 
Nav, mortal love but echoes His — 
£ven prodigals his pity share.'* 



"i AM A WORM, AND NO MAN." — Psalm XXli. 6. 

HOW surely He to whom these words apply is 
the " Wonderful ! " What a paradox his 
whole character appears to the eye of man ! The 
brightness of the Father's glory, yet without a 
home on earth ! The image of the invisible God, 
yet rejected and despised of men ! The mystery of 
godliness, yet marred more than any man! The 
adored of angels, and yet the crucified of sinners ! 
God our Saviour — Jehovah our Righteousness — 
God with us ; and yet, according to his own lan- 
guage, " a worm and no man ; a reproach of men, 
and despised of the people ! " 

Divine wisdom can harmonize these two. The 
wisdom which the Holy Spirit teaches can enable 
us, not merely to comprehend, but to exult in the 
apparently conflicting truths : Man to endure ; God 
to give value to endurance, which needed to be in- 
finite : Man to keep the law ; and God to give 
grandeur to that obedience, that the law might be 
magnified and made honorable: Man to die; and 
God to make that death adequate to the mighty 
work of reconciliation and purity, which it was de- 
signed to advance ; — that is the solution of the 
problem, the explanation of the paradox. But, 
my soul, turning from the paradox, cling to the 



THE SUBSTITUTE. 165 

results of the Redeemer's humiliation. See him 
in his agony ! that was for thee, if thou believe 
upon his name. Behold him despised and outcast — 
that was for thee! And in the grave — that was 
for thee! But behold him also on the throne — 
He is there for thee ! and more than that, He 
will place thee there beside him. By holiness, then, 
of heart, speech, and behavior, prepare to be for 
ever with the Lord. O banish pride, when the 
Saviour w r as so lowly. Be much in the dust, see- 
ing that he stooped even to the grave. He that 
would be great must begin by being little ; and 
the greatest soul is not that which can explain the 
theory of the world, or harmonize and control the 
interests of nations, but that which is most lowly, 
meek, and Christlike. 

THE PROOF. 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God."— John i. 1. 

THE HYMN. 

" 0, <*aze into that open grave; 
Ine rvivumr once was there! 
Then na.«te. entomu each tnui ght ol p'ide, 
And tfitfs ior iiie prepare." 



it in §afr. 



"WE JO? IN GOD, THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY 
WHOM WE HAVE NOW RECEIVED '/HE ATONEMENT." — Itom. 

V. 11. 

WITHOUT an atonement we could never have 
joyed in God, for without shedding of blood 
there is no remission ; and if there be no remission, 
there is no peace, or no communion with God, except 
that of the criminal with the judge. But when we 
repose on the atonement, and are thereby reconciled 
unto God, then begins our joy, for sin is taken 
away. Its guilt is cancelled ; its pollution is sup 
planted by purity ; its condemning power is encoun 
tered for us, and turned aside. God now becomes 
our chief good and chief joy. The soul reposes upon 
him. It delights to be near him. Communion with 
him gladdens the believer, and when that commu- 
nion is withheld, he can enter, in some measure, 
into the deep words, " My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me ! " In short, the favor of God, as 
a covenant God in Christ, prompts man to sing in 
the house of his pilgrimage ; he can endure even a 
great fight of afflictions, if the light of God's coun- 
tenance be shining upon him. 

I3 it the case, then, that I thus joy in God ? 
Am I still like Adam when he fled to hide from 
Him amid the trees of the garden, because con- 



THE GOURD. 167 

science accuses ; or have I been brought nigh by 
the blood of the cross ? Is it the case that I still 
regard the service of God a weariness and a bond- 
age ; or do I delight in drawing near to Him as 
my Father who is in heaven ? His house, his 
people, his word, his day — are all these honored, 
loved ; and revered by me for his sake ; or is his 
house shunned, or rarely frequented ? Are his peo- 
ple the men of my counsel ; or are they disliked 
and avoided ? Is his word sweet to my taste, like 
honey from the comb ; or do I prefer every book 
to God's ? Do I reckon his day the honorable of 
the Lord, and do I honor it? Then the grace which 
came by Jesus Christ has touched the heart ; and, 
savoring the things which be of God on earth, the 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, 
will be the soul's abode for ever. 

THE PROOF. 

**I will love thee, Lord, my strength." — Psalm xviii i. 

THE nONVICllON 

" Ten then sand idols have been tneu, 
i\vt witnerine gourds were ail; 
In (ioa alone our rest is icuiiu. 
And joys wmch never Dan.'' 1 * 



tffensi t\t lift. 



"i LIVE, YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN MB," — Gal 
ii. 20. 

THIS is the secret of spiritual existence ; it is im- 
mortality begun. The apostle Paul thoroughly 
understood, that without Christ, he could do nothing ; 
and hence these deep, though simple words. As the 
body without the soul is dead, and fit only to be 
buried out of sight, the soul without the Saviour is 
dead ; it has no spiritual vitality, and no relish for 
the things of God ; it is, in truth, dead to him, and 
all that is heavenly and holy. But when Christ is 
formed in us the hope of glory, when we become 
one Spirit with the Lord, it is then that we can do 
all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

Are we near the entrance of the valley of the 
shadow of death ? Christ is our life — of what need 
we be afraid ? Are we surrounded with tempta- 
tions, so that the germ of spiritual existence is in 
danger of being crushed ? Still Christ lives in the 
believer ; and because that is the case, he need fear 
no evil: What can prevail against Him in whom 
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwells ? 

Such is the portion of a ransomed soul — to live 
in Christ, as well as for him ; and let the believer 
who knows that life say, Is it not one that is hid 
in God ? It is hid from all that would injure it ; 



THE BUD — THE FRUIT. lb'9 

nay, it is, in a great measure, hid from the believer 
himself; for "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
things which God has prepared for them that love 
him." All life besides is a vapor which continueth 
not, a shadow which declineth, a breath which often 
expires almost as soon as it is drawn. But Christ 
is the life which responds to man's deepest longings 
for immortality ; and when we are made one Spirit 
with the Lord, our eternal life has indeed begun. 
Cling, then, my soul, to Him who is the life ; 
covet earnestly this highest style of living ; and it 
will be seen that thy existence on earth is just the 
bud, of which eternity is the ripe fruit. Thou art 
a minor now ; thy majority will begin in our Fa- 
ther's house on high. 

THE PROOF. 

u J am the way, and the truth, and the life.'* — John xiv. 6. 

THE CONVICTION. 

"The Way! Then safely home to God 
Each ransomed soul will rise : 
The Truth ! Then, trained for heaven by Th-33, 
Vain the deceiver's lies. 

"The Life! Then death is vanquished now; 
Light gleams within the grave; 
While far beyond its gloomy verge, 
Undying glories wave." 



%\t €uxu. 



" CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE 
LAW, BEING MADE A CURSE FOR US." — Gal. iii. 13. 

OF all the deep things of God, this ranks among 
the deepest* Gaze into the depth, and attempt 
to descry its significance. 

The Son of God, in whom he is ever well-pleased, 
was made a curse. 

He who did no sin, who was holy, harmless, and 
undefiled, was made a curse. 

He who is the express image of the Father's 
person, was made a curse. 

He who loved the souls of men, and never saw 
a sorrow which he did not seek to relieve, was 
made a curse. 

He who would not break the bruised reed, nor 
quench the smoking flax, was made a curse. 

He who was the Lord our Righteousness, was 
made a curse. 

The Righteous Branch ; the Plant of Renown ; 
the Shepherd ; the Hope ; the Saviour of Israel — 
was made a curse. 

0, what sin must be, when these are part of its 
fruits! how hateful to God! how eternally ruinous 
to man ! 

And what redemption must be, when it could be 
accomplished only by the Son of God being made 



THE PRICE OV THE SOUL. 17l 

ft curse for us ! But redemption has been accom- 
plished. The Redeemer of Israel bore the load 
which only omnipotence could sustain ; and now our 
hosannas may be deep — they will be eternal — to 
Him who came in the name of the Lord to save us. 
And what was the nature of that w r oe which 
Jesus bore when he died the Just for the unjust? 
Who shall tell its poignancy, or fathom its depths ? 
All that the sinner should have endured, except 
the agony of remorse, was the portion of the Sa- 
viour; that bitter cup he consented to drink when 
he undertook to bear his people's sins in his own 
body on the tree, and addressed himself to the ter- 
rible enterprise with the words, " Not as I will, but 
as thou wilt." Now, my sins, if I rank among the 
skived, were operating there ; and can my attitude 
ever be too lowly for that, or my self-condemnation 
too deep? 

THE PROOF. 

"He that is hanged on a tree, is accursed of God.'* — Deut. 
xxi. 23. 

THE HYMN. 

u 0, raise on earth the song of heaven, 
That worthy is the Lamb of God; 
Gethsemane and Calvary tell 
What woes he bore, what path he trod." 



"YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHA 
DOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL : FOR THOU ART WITH 

me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." — Psalm 
xxiii. 4. 

THE last enemy is death, but the truth as it is 
in Jesus provides for his perfect overthrow. 
Many are all their lifetime subject to bondage 
through fear of death, but the Saviour's triumphs 
have made ample provision for setting us free from 
that bondage as well as from every other. And 
how ? What, for example, is it that makes David 
so bold in the prospect of entering the valley of 
the shadow of death ? How has he succeeded in 
subduing the terror which haunts so many, and in 
looking the last enemy so fearlessly in the face ? 
It is a simple truth that has given him the victory. 
"Thou art with me" explains it all. The Lord 
his Shepherd was there. As his Shepherd, he 
tended David with his staiF; as his King, he de- 
fended him with his sceptre, the rod of his power; 
and thus encompassed, David could say, " I am 
comforted." 

Now, the same blessing is in store for as many 
as believe. Is Jesus the life, and do I cling to 
him in that character ? Then death is vanquished. 
Because he liveth, we shall live also ; and neither 
the grave with its gloom, nor the last enemy with 
his terrors, need great!}' overwhelm my soul. " I 



DEATH ABOLISHED. 175 

will ransom them from the power of the grave," 
was the promise, and it has been fulfilled. " I 
will redeem them from death," was the assurance, 
and He who is the truth has verified it all. " O 
death, I will be thy plagues," is a clause of the 
Word which tells how completely the last enemy is 
destined to be crushed. To consummate the truth, 
it is written : u O grave, I will be thy destruction." 
And is not the whole fulfilled? Does not our God 
keep truth for ever? Is there not imparted to the 
believer in Jesus a life which knows no death ? 
Nay, is not death abolished by Him who is the 
resurrection and the life, so that " death is swal- 
lowed up in victory?" A grave without a resur- 
rectionj and a world without a God, is the dream 
of msny. But because there is a God, there is glory, 
honor, and immortality ; and that is the joy of all 
whom that God has taught. 

THE PROOF. 

" death, where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory? 
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But 
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." — 1 Cok. xv. 55-57. 

THE HYMN. 

" Within the portals of the grave 
The Saviour vanquished death; 
And now the king of terror quail* 
Before the might of faith." 



"A WITNESS OF THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, AND ALSO A 
PARTAKER OF THE GLORY THAT SHALL BE REVEALED." — 1 

Pet v. 1. 

THE glory which awaits the ransomed is the 
purchase of the Redeemer's agony ; and we 
may thence infer its blessedness. It is the glory 
of freedom from all sin, both in itself and its effects. 
It is the glory of being like Christ, and for ever 
with him. It is not merely freedom from pain, and 
sorrow, and misery — mere selfishness can prompt 
such desires; — it is freedom from what occasions 
these ; a glory which eye hath not seen nor heart 
conceived, but which is all summed up in following 
the Lamb whithersoever he goes. On such a sub- 
ject man can only lisp, or lay the hand upon the 
mouth. Its very grandeur prevents it from being 
grasped ; but this much is certain, perfect felicity, 
in perfect conformity to the Holy One, awaits the 
ransomed soul. 

Here, then, is. the consummation of all things. 
" It is finished " may now be sounded forth in a 
sense which is even more profound than when it was 
uttered on the cross. Paradise is restored — God and 
man are re-united. Every obstacle to their commu- 
nion is for ever removed. The soul has got back to 
its great Original. It is blessed in the retrospect of 
all that it has endured or enjoyed on earth. It is 



THE LAMB. 175 

more blessed still in the full enjoying of God for 
ever. Every film is removed, every fear is hushed, 
every sin is pardoned, every stain is washed away ; 
and everlasting life, everlasting glory, becomes the 
erown and consummation of redemption. True, 
thousands see no attraction in all these things : and 
one of the most wonderful things connected with 
redemption is, that many behold no wonders in the 
wonderful, no glory in the glorious, no heaven in 
the heavenly. But be it far otherwise with thee, 
my soul. Attracted by thy great and mighty Lord, 
the Wonderful, the Counsellor, walk in light to the 
home of the holy : there the crown of glory awaits 
thee, when thou comest to Zion with everlasting joy 
upon thy head. 

THE PROOF. 

" And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take 
the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain ?na 
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation." — Rev. v. 9. 

THE HYMN. 

44 hark! that anthem pealing 
From sainted ones on high, 
Their ecstasy revealing — 
4 Worthy the Lamb,' they cry. 

44 let the earth re-echo, 

In deepest joy, their song — 
4 Worthy the Lamb,' whose glorj 
Thrills all the ransomed throng." 



%\t jritt fupf. 



" BUT TE, BELOVED, BUILDING UP YOURSELVES OX YOUR 
MOST HOLY FAITH. PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST, KEEP 
YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD." — Jude 20, 21. 

i~~ S it not humbling that' an effort is needed by 
man before he can love his God at all ! He 
must watch and pray, and keep his heart with all 
diligence, before that love can reign in any mea- 
sure as it should do there. It might be thought 
that we need only open the eye to look upon the 
li^ht, to love Him who bade it shine ; or on the 
prolific earth, to love Him who imparted all its 
riches ; or to the heavens above, which so sublimely 
tell His glory. But ah, no ! Man likes not to retain 
the knowledge of God ; and " Ye have been weary 
of me, O Israel," might still be his complaint. We 
love every thing around us, but make an exception 
jf Him who is the Author of every good and every 
perfect gift. The first and great commandment, to 
love the Lord our God with all the heart, and all 
the soul, and all the strength and mind, is often, in 
effect, blotted from the Bible — we do not love him, 
and we do not regard the operation of his hands. 

How, then, is man to be lifted out of this condi- 
tion ? How can he be elevated so as to delight 
himself in God once more ? It is the love of God 
in Christ which must accomplish that result, and we 
are to meditate on that till our hearts be affected 



DELIGHT IN GOD. 177 

by the divine display. Just as we keep the de- 
parted in our minds, and perpetuate or deepen our 
love to them by dwelling on the memorials of their 
love, on their image, or their handiwork, we are 
to quicken our minds by meditation on the love of 
God in Christ. He gave his Son to die for us. 
The sword of his justice awoke against his fellow, 
that his mercy might flow forth to us. He hid his 
face from him that it might shine upon us for ever; 
and when the Spirit of God enables us to see some- 
thing of the depth of that love, then we love in 
return. We can resist no longer; and though watch- 
fulness be still needed, before we can "keep our- 
selves in the love of God " as we should do, yet 
that love becomes our joy, it is the sunlight of the 
soul, and the feeling of it is to man's spirit like 
the breath of spring to the earth. 

THE PROOF. 

"Delight thyself also in the Loud; ana he shall give tnee tiia 
desires of thine heart." — Psalm xxxvii. 4. 

THE CONFESSION. 

" We read our heavenly Father's care, 
Within, without, around, above; 
Yet, dazzled by his countless gifts, 
Our heart forgets to own his love. 

M Each trifle claims that heart by turns, 
And each in turn supplants our God: 
Ah, need we wonder though he coinje 
To chasten with a Father's rod?" 



"AND WHEN THE PEOPLE SAW THAT MOSES DELAYED 'CO 
COME DOWN OUT OF THE MOUNT, THE PEOPLE GATHERED 
THEMSELVES TOGETHER UNTO AARON, AND SAID UNTO HIM, 
UP, MAKE US GODS, WHICH SHALL GO BEFORE US ; FOR A3 
FOR THIS MOSES, THE MAN THAT BROUGHT US UP OUT OF 
THE LAND OF EGYPT, WE WOT NOT WHAT IS BECOME OF 

him." — Exod. xxxii. 1. 

npHERE is not a single verse in the Word of God 
-L more fraught with instruction than this. The 
period could be easily counted by hours from the time 
here referred to, when the people had seen the light- 
nings, and heard the thunders of Sinai. All that was 
majestic in God's handiwork, combined with the ma- 
jesty of his visible presence, to awe and prostrate 
the Hebrews ; and we know that they were terror- 
stricken — "even Moses did exceedingly fear and 
quake." To this we must add the deliverance of the 
Red Sea, with all that preceded and followed that 
event ; and then we have a people placed in circum- 
stances such as were never paralleled in the world. 

Yet, amid all that, see how these people forget the 
God in whose awful presence they stand ! See how 
the visible reigns over the invisible, the gross and the 
material over the spiritual, the creature above God 
over all ! And see how man's wayward heart wearies 
of Him on whom every beat which it gives depends ! 
To substitute the image of a four-footed beast for the 
living God in such circumstances, sheds a lurid light 



THE CALK OK 1IOUEB, 179 

upon the dark soul \A man, and tells in a voice as 
plain as the thunders of Sinai were loud, that our 
fallen race like nor. to retain the knowledge of God 
in the heart. 

But other lessons crowd upon us as we gaze in 
thought upon the calf of Horeb. To hear even Aaron 
saying, "These be thy gods, O Israel," proclaims 
aloud how unavailing stupendous miracles are to im- 
press the heart of man, unless the greatest miracle of 
all — the miracle of the new creation — be wrought 
upon himself. It is not Sinai with its thunder; it is 
not the law, with its terrors and demands ; it is not 
agony, however intense, nor sorrows, however crowd- 
ing ; it is not a sea opened for our safe passage ; it is 
not a pillar of cloud or of fire still hovering over us, 
to guide us in the right way — that will suffice. It is 
the Spirit of the living God, transforming and illumi- 
nating all within, and that alone, that can either make 
us godly, or keep us so. 

THE PROOF. 

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things wliiili 
are not convellient. ,, — Rom. i. 28. 

THE HYMN. 

" Ah. vain the power of man to drive 

The creature from its Maker's throne — 
We grasp ten thousand gifts of His, 
And still his love forget to own. 

"Poor blinded man will bow the knee 
To vilest things, and call them God, 
Till idols piled on idols fill 

That heart, the Spirit'* loved abode." 



"BE SOBER, BE VIGILANT; BECAUSE YOUR ADVERSARY TUB 
DEVIL, AS A ROARING LION, WALKET1I ABOUT, SEEKING Vi\JCU 
HE MAY DEVOUR/' — 1 Pet. V. 8. 

AMONG the wonders of redeeming love, it were 
wrong not to mention the revelation of God's 
mind regarding the tempter — the accuser of the 
brethren — that old serpent — the origin of evil on 
the earth, and of woe unutterable to myriads of the 
sons of men. Regarding Satanic power, there is 
much to bewilder and perplex, much that man 
cannot explain, and need not attempt to fathom. 
How did the deceiver appear among the sons of 
God, and obtain a commission to try the patriarch 
Job ? By what power all but omnipotent, or what 
skill all but omniscient, does he counteract the pro- 
gress of truth, keeping millions upon millions in 
bondage, and win an ample title to be deemed the 
god of this world, the prince of the power of the 
air? There is much in all that to baffle our in- 
quiries, but the fact we know, at once upon divine 
authority and from universal experience; and con- 
tented with that we must drop into the dust, be 
6ilent, and adore. 

But " bless the Lord, O my soul ! " Though 
there be much to perplex in the fact that we have 
a subtle and a crafty spirit against us, there is 
more to encourage in the fact that we have an 



TIIK SPIRIT. 181 

omniscient Spirit on our side. If we be tempted 
in ways which we cannot explain, we are also 
befriended by One who knows all the avenues to 
the human heart, all the dangers to which we are 
exposed, and all the skill which is needed to avert 
them. He can at once suggest an alarm and tell 

CO 

us the way of safety. He can both excite our fear, 
and point us to Him who is our shield, our buckler, 
and high tower. The tempter may turn every ob- 
ject of affection into a snare, every pursuit into 
a new peril ; friendship, business, leisure, activity, 
the quietude of home, the bustle of the market- 
place, the book we read, the words we speak — the 
very looks which we give or receive — all, all may 
become a snare and a trap by the craftiness of the 
deceiver. But are we "sober and vigilant?" Do 
we press the nearer to our Guardian when we learn 
our danger ? Then He who came to " destroy the 
works of the devil," will protect us in safety, and 
teach us to sing, " I will not fear though ten thousand 
be set round about against me." 

THE PROOF. 

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; 
bocause greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world " 
1 John iv. 4. 

THE HYMN. 

"Assaulted by man's deadly foe, 
We grasp ^the Almighty arm; 
And with Omniscience to guide, 
Even Satan cannot harm." 



§MJifrtntt« font tjrt $m of ieatjj. 

CHRIST DIED TO "DELIVER THEM WHO THROUGH FEAR OF 
DEATH WERE ALL. THEIR LIFETIME SUBJECT TO BONDAGE." — 

Ileb. ii. 15. 

ON the field of battle, with passions excited, and 
a thousand influences at work to goad and 
stimulate man, multitudes rush upon death without 
one thought of what is to follow. The horse and 
his rider there are often alike the creatures of 
blind impulse. Infuriated rage, or fell hatred, or 
self-defence, or the groans of the dying, and the 
ghastliness of the dead, all help to madden men, or 
hide from their view the terrific results of death 
beyond the grave. 

But how different they who perish inch by inch, 
it may be during many years of languishing and 
decay! They have ' time to estimate aright the 
king of terrors — to consider all his power, and 
meditate on the results of his remorseless victory. 
And for a time that often overwhelms — the soul 
cannot contemplate the coming struggle without a 
shudder, or without many tears. " O, the pain, 
the bliss of dying ! " might be poetry on the lips of 
a heathen emperor when communing with his soul ; 
but when we know that it is " appointed unto man 
once to die, and after death to be judged;" when it 
is vividly impressed on the mind, that " as the tree 
falls so must it lie," then trembling often takes hold 



LIFLL DEATH GLORY. 1 83 

of the stoutest heart ; the question is raised which 
no power of man can answer: How shall my naked, 
shivering, sinful soul, appear in the presence of its 
God? 

But, behold just here another instance of the 
wonders of redeeming love. One has come from 
heaven to be our life. He says he has " abolished 
death." He is proclaimed as " the resurrection 
and the life." We are assured, that he who be- 
lieveth in Jesus, though he were dead, shall live 
again ; and thus, by line upon line, we are directed 
to the better life which never ends. A vapor, a 
shadow, a dream, a phantom, a tale which has been 
told, is our existence upon earth ; glory, honor, 
and immortality, is our existence beyond the grave; 
and when faith realizes all that, the soul, formerly 
bowed down and "in bondage through fear of 
death," can exclaim, "Though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : 
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me." 

THE PROOF. 

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he 
that helieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." 
— John xi. 25. 

THE HYMN. 

"A fleeting phantom is our being here; 
In vain lor some abiding joy we pant; 
But all is mockery, till the Lord of Life, 
By death abolished, meet our deepest want." 



W TnOU IN THY MKKCY HAST LEO FORTH THE PEOPLE WHICH 
THOU HAST REDEEMED! THOU HAST GUIDED THEM IN THY 
STRENGTH UNTO THY HOLY HABITATION." — Exod. XV. 13. 

THERE is nothing in the truth of God more 
offensive to the spirit of the world, than the 
fact that God is every thing in true religion. He 
begins it in the soul, he carries it on, and he com- 
pletes it. Man does not first seek God ; it is God 
that first seeks man. He puts forth his hand to 
help us, or man would continue self-destroyed and 
helpless for ever. 

The experience of God's people is ever in beau- 
tiful accordance with this : "He maketh me to lie 
down ; " "He leadeth me beside the still waters ; " 
"He restoreth my soul again ; " "He maketh me to 
walk in the paths of righteousness, and all that for 
his own name's sake." Such is a portion of the ex- 
perience of David, and of all whom the Spirit of 
God is teaching. The Alpha and the Omega of all 
saving religion is God over all. 

And let the soul meditate, for its joy, on the 
truth of God, with this conviction to guide its 
meditations. 

"Thou in thy mercy hast led forth thy people." 
Thou hast done it. The movement did not begin 
with man, but with the Father of Lights. "In thy 
mercy," moreover ; not in consequence of any claim 






THE ALrilA AND OMEGA. 185 

which man had, but solely because that mercy which 
is deep as floods sought a channel, and found it in the 
objects of thy choice. The whole began in the 
fathomless depths of mercy. 

And who were thus led ? " The people whom thou 
hast redeemed." Slaves before, they are emanci- 
pated now, and that because a price more costly than 
silver or gold has been paid for them by thee. 

" Thou hast guided them," farther, " in thy 
strength." Had it not been for that, they would 
have wandered from the way ; but with thy strength 
made perfect in their weakness, they reach at last 
" thy holy habitation." Now, it is the question of 
questions for me to adjust, Am I thus in the way ? 
Is it upon almighty strength that I am leaning ? 
Am I among the redeemed, or still one of the en- 
slaved ? 

THE PROOF. 

" Give ear, Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like 
a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, sh ie forth." 
— Psalm lxxx. 1. 

THE HYMN. 

" How wild the sea to fury lashed 
liy winter's howling storms ! 
As wild the sou), as tempest-tost, 
While passion's power deforms. 

" How calm the sea when summer smiles 
To hush each wave to rest ! 
As cairn the soul which mercy guides 
To dwell among the blest " 



"as an eagle stirretii up her nest, flutteretji oves 
iter young, spread eth abroad her wings, taketh them, 
ueaiveth them on her wings; so the lord alone did 
lead him, and there was no strange god with him." — 
Deut. xxxii. 11, 12. 

IT is thus that we are taught the loving-kindness 
of the Lord to his ancient people, and in a pic- 
ture the most vivid and the most touching, we see 
his watchfulness and care. He hovers above them 
like a brooding bird. He never leaves them nor 
forsakes them. He is their sun and shield ; in a 
pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, He 
guides them by a right way. 

But God's ways are equal ; he is the same yester- 
day, to-day, and for ever ; and he is doing now what 
he did in the days of old. By mercy upon mercy, 
and if need be, correction on correction, he is still 
leading his pilgrim people through this world to a 
better. Are they described as children ? Then he 
takes them by the hand and teaches them to go — 
he nourishes them and brings them up. Are they 
in distress? Then he chooses them in the furnace 
Are they assailed by temptations? Then he who 
touches them, touches the apple of His eye. Are 
their enemies numerous and strong ? He is greater 
than all that can be against us. Are they wayward 
and perverse? He teaches them to behave like a 



THE EXOTIC. 187 

weaned child ; they become a willing people in the 
day of his power. 

But why enumerate thus? Does not every 
soul to which the Bible is something more than a 
dead letter, discover in it from day to day more of 
the loving-kindness of the Lord ? He knows that 
the believer, while here below, is like some tender 
plant brought from the sunny south to our northern 
clime — unless it be carefully sheltered, it speedily 
droops, and pines, and dies ; or like a taper carried 
in the breeze, and every moment in danger of being 
extinguished, the soul in which the grace of God is 
dwelling, is a frail and tender thing. He therefore 
keeps his hand ever about it for good. He shelters 
it from what would nip or extinguish, and tends it 
with more than a parent's care. 

THE PROOF. 

" What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have 
not done in it ? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring 
forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? " — Isaiah v. 4. 

THE HYMN. 

" See that fond bird ! she plies each tender wile 
To lure her brood to try their feeble wing. 
Now far, now near, she tempts them to the sky, 
Like her to welcome each returning spring. 

"So the Great God would train the soul to soar, 
And dwell secure above earth's deadening spell; 
His word, his love, his Spirit, and his Son, 
All point to heaven, all, all its glory tell." 



"TIIE CIIIEFEST AMONG TEN THOUSAND." — Sonj V. 10. 

SUCH is the Church's estimate of her Redeemer. 
To others he has no beauty, that they should 
desire him. Day passes after day, and mercy 
after mercy is enjoyed, yet not a thought is dedi- 
cated to Him in whom God is ever well pleased, 
and of whom we read, " Let all the angels of God 
worship him." But when the Spirit has received 
the things of Christ, and showed them to us, all 
that is over: God in Christ becomes the ocean 
into which the streams of our affections flow — the 
centre to which they gravitate — the home where 
they find repose. 

And how does God banish our indifference, and 
bring us under the influence of a heavenly attrac- 
tion ? Not by a mere command, or a mere exercise 
of power, but by presenting to us a new object of 
affection, by unveiling its beauty before us, and so 
winning the heart to love by love. The love of 
God to sinners, as it is displayed in Christ, attracts 
us to love God in return. The thought that we 
have sinned against such tender affection, or grieved 
one so full of pity, and so ready to forgive, lays us 
in the dust : and, like the prophet, our confession 
sometimes is, " I am ashamed, yea, even confounded, 
besause I bear the reproach of my youth." 

And it is a^t this point that He who is altogether 



THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 189 

lonely appears in greatest beauty. Our reproach 
is iaid upon him, and in love he bears it away. In 
doing so, the eye of faith recognizes the forth-putting 
of his omnipotence as well as the depths of his com- 
passion ; as the Sun of Righteousness, he shines in 
all his glory here ; and the simple fact that he 
died, the just for the unjust, makes him "altogether 
lovely" indeed, to those whom the Spirit has en- 
lightened to behold his beauty. 

And now, my soul, is that beauty beheld by thee ? 
Art thou still among the blind, for whom the Saviour 
has no comeliness, that we should desire him ? Or is 
it plain that the Brightness of the Father's glory is 
glorious indeed ? Then rejoice with a portion of the 
joy which is unspeakable and full of glory. We can 
rarely do more than touch the hem of his garment 
while here, but we shall be wrapped in the seamless 
robe hereafter. Nay, more, we shall be like him, 
and see him as he is. 

THE PROOF. 

.. "^ ord t to whom sh all we go? thou hast the words of eternal 
life," — John vi. 68. 

THE HYMN. 

" The sun by day is glorious, 
The stars at eventide, 
As silently along yon dome 
In march sublime they glide. 

44 Yet all that glory fades away, 
It pales before that Sun 
Which shines in beauty on the soul — 
God's well-bel )ved One." 



t <$nuti> tasammanini. 



"eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have en- 
tered INTO THE HEART OF MAN, THE THINGS WHICH GOD 
HATH PREPARED FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM." — 1 Cor. \\. 9. 

UNLESS we could measure the infinite, or ex- 
haust the inexhaustible, we could not describe 
all the wonders of redeeming love. It is true that 
it is with them as it was with the Redeemer himself 
— many see no beauty in them, that they should 
be admired. But when the Spirit has revealed 
them to us, they shine in heaven's own lustre, they 
are signalized by heaven's own wisdom, and are 
full to overflowing of its love. Is it love to take 
sin so utterly away, that it shall be sought for, and 
nowhere be found ? That is made sure in redemp- 
tion by two immutable things — the word arid the 
oath of God. Is it love to stamp the image of God 
upon man's soul again ? That also is made sure 
by redemption. Is it love to restore man's happi- 
ness, by re-conducting him to his God ? That is 
the grand object of redemption — its terminating 
point. Is it love to give man the enduring, the 
eternal, for his portion, when he is prone to grovel 
among transient things, even while he feels how 
shadowy they are? All that is in the covenant of 
redemption, and sure as the word of the Eternal. 
Is it love to pledge the strength of God to carry 



"COME, LORD JESUS." 191 

poor, frail man onward and upward to glory ? 
That also is provided in the gospel. Is it love 
to turn that which is by nature like a cage of 
unclean birds, into a temple of the Holy Ghost? 
All that is also made sure. 

— But we need not attempt to enumerate the 
whole. Eye hath not seen them, ear hath not 
heard them ; we must wait till that which is per- 
fect be come, before we know them all. 

Meanwhile, be encouraged, even amid tears and 
tribulations, by the gracious invitations of our Re- 
deemer and our God, to profit by this rich pro- 
vision of love. "The Spirit and the bride say, 
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And 
let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, 
let him take the water of life freely" Be it the 
prayer, then, of every earnest one — "Come, Lord 
Jesus, and in thy train bring the exhaustless dowry 
of blessings made sure by thy love to the redeemed 
soul. 

THE PROOF. 

"Beloved, njw are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet 
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.— 
1 John iii. 2. 

THE HYMN. 

'* Eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, 

The bliss which the Saviour in mercy bestowed; 
The raptures of heaven must thrill through the soul, 
Lre ve fathom the depths whence redemption has flowed." 



THE SriEPHEKU OP ISRAEL; 

OR, 

FAITHFUL IS HE THAT CALLETH YOU 



THE SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL. 



tjje j&jjtujjtrfc ai Israel.' 

"the rORP IS MY SHEPES^P" — P<nlm XX'i* 1. 

I AM journeying through a dreary wilderness ; 
but I have a guardian there. One, " like a 
ro9rir»g lion, goeth about seeking whom he may 
Ovvour;" but another, "the Lion of the tribe 01 
Judah," is mightier far, and the song of the believ- 
ing soul may therefore be — Greater is he that is for 
us than all that can be against us. 

But the soul requires food as well as defence, and 
" Give us this day our daily bread," is as needful 
a prayer as, " Deliver us from evil." Blessed, then, 
are they who can with one breath exclaim, " The 
Lord is my shepherd," and add in the next, U I 
shall not want." And let that heart rejoice which 
seeks this Lord ; for mark how copious is the 
supply which he provides. " Green pastures " are 
the emblems of plenty, and " quiet waters " are a 
synonyme for peace. Plenty and peace, then, or 



k * MY SIIK!*llKKb." 195 

abui.dance and quietude in which to enjoy it, are 
made sure to those who have the Lord for their 
shepherd. He who leads Joseph like a flock, and 
who leads thorn gently, is ever a present help ; and 
because lie defends, thousands would be too weak 
to injure. 

But how may I know that 1 am indeed one of 
the sheep of his pasture? How may I venture to 
say, the Lord is my shepherd ? He is the good 
Shepherd, and gives his life for the sheep, but how 
may I be assured that he is a shepherd to me ? He 
himself shall tell. U A stranger my sheep will not 
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not 
the voice of a stranger." Is it the case, then, that 
I know the Shepherd's voice? Is it the Lord that 
I follow, and do I turn from others, as only the 
emissaries of him who would destroy ? Then he 
who keepeth Israel has touched my heart ; and will 
lead me by the footsteps of the flock on earth, to the 
holy mountain, where there is nothing to hurt or to 
offend, in heaven. 

THE PROOF. 

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for 
the sheep." — John x. 11. 

THE HYMN. 

' It is his voice? Then, my soul, 
In silence catcli each tone: 
Thy woes lie feels, thy grief he bears, 
As if they were his own." 



%\t lifltli jfff 60ft. 



"FEAR NOT; FOR I HAVE REDEEMED THEE, I HAVE CAl LED 
THEE BY THY NAME; THOU ART MINE." — Jsaidh xliii. 1. 

EVERY thing in the Shepherd of Israel is pre- 
cious to the soul which follows him, and is 
designed to make us follow him more and more. 
He comes to his timid, trembling ones, and his 
first accents are, "Fear not" — they are designed 
to encourage and allure. But what is the foun- 
dation on which our confidence may rest ? "I 
have redeemed thee," is the gracious reply. Thou 
art mine, not merely because I created thee, nor 
merely because every breath thou drawest is a gift 
from me ; but over and beyond all these, I have 
redeemed thee — and that not with silver and gold, 
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb 
without blemish and without spot. And more still : 
" I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine." 
All that is endearing, and all that is close in re- 
lationship, thus combine to link the Redeemer and 
the redeemed together. They are one, through the 
faithful Word and the life-giving Spirit. 

Is this, then, the destiny of my soul ? Is it thus 
that the Holy One deals with those who have 
rebelled against him ? Surely this is heaping 
coals of fire upon our heads ! This is to act not 
after the manner of man, but of God 1 It is to 






TIIH CHIEF END OP MAN. 197 

show us in foretaste what it will be to be for ever 
with the Lord. Glory, then, to God in the highest ! 
and be it my life-long endeavor to fulfil the chief 
2nd of man — to glorify the Shepherd of Israel, 
rhat where he makes his flock to rest, I may rest 
ibr ever. 

And how insignificant are all earthly things com- 
pared with this pursuit of the Chief Good ! What 
though I could count all the stars, or tell all their 
names ? What though I could sum up the drops 
of the ocean, or measure its waters in the hol- 
low of my hand ? What advantage were it though 
I could walk, as Jehovah does, upon the wings 
of the wind — if all the while He were still an 
unknown God, a God afar off; one whom I did not 
love, or had no prospect of meeting, except as my 
incensed Judge? — In Him we rest like a sleep- 
ing infant on the bosom of its mother ; and that 
rest brings a foretaste of the fulness of joy. 

THE PROOF. 

" Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to 
give you the kingdom." — Luke xii. 32. 

THE PRAYER. 

" Lord of glory ! may thy power 
My trembling soul defend ; 
Be thy great mime my refuge-tower; 
Be thou, O God, my friend! " 



Q* 



%\t Jf sit fetal Ifttammt. 

W HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." — Heb. X. 23. 

HE has promised that sin shall be sought for, 
but shall not be found ; and He is faithful to 
"do as he has said." 

He has promised, that in six troubles, yea, in 
seven, He will be present with us ; and we may 
rely on his faithfulness to perform it. 

" When thou passest through the waters, I will 
be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall 
not overflow thee," is another assurance. Now, 
" hath he spoken," and will he not perform ? 

" Thy Maker is thy husband," is the declaration 
of the Holy One ; and as He cannot alter wiiat has 
gone out of his mouth, we may both plead the 
promise and expect its fulfilment. Though it was 
made to the church of old, every believer may plead 
it still, and in pleading it rejoice. We are weak and 
need defence — He is at our right hand. We are 
helpless and need a shield — He delivers. We have 
countless foes — He is mightier than they all. For 
all that, we have his own guaranty, an assurance 
as stable as the everlasting hills ; and when we 
restore to the Holy One that confidence which 
Adam withdrew when he believed the father of lies 5 
all will be well again. 

"I will pour out my Spirit upon you," is another 






THE ROCK. 199 

gracious intimation from Him who is the Truth ; 
and with that to animate and gladden, we may go 
forward, rejoicing in the strength which the truth 
supplies. Surely it is enough to know that " God 
is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fel- 
lowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord ; " or if 
that be not enough, is not the soul still distempered ? 
Is not God still dishonored, and what marvel then 
though man be still unhappy ? 

" There is no condemnation for them that are in 
Christ ; " " Sin shall not have dominion over you ; " 
" My grace shall be sufficient for you, my strength 
shall be perfected in your weakness : " these, and 
a crowd of exceeding great and precious promises, 
are scattered through the Word of God, as numerous 
and bright as the stars in the midnight sky ; and 
as they are all founded on the truth, they are all to 
be rested on as the Rock of Ages. Repose there, 
then, O my soul. All is immutable as the word 
of the Eternal ; and having His promises as the 
basis of your hope, you may glory in them, like 
those that divide the spoil. 

THE PROOF. 

" All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto 
the glory ot God by us." — 2 Cor. i. 20. 

THE HYMN. 

" On the truth I repose, nay, on thee, my Gcd, 
For thou art the Truth to my soul ; 
No shadow, no phantom, no fiction of earth, 
Shall rival thy gracious control." 



14 B-EHOLD I HAVE GRAVEN THEE UrON THE PALMS OF Ml 

hands." — Isaiah xiix. 16. 

YY7E have many hard thoughts of God. A guilty 
▼ V and therefore timid conscience, prompts fear 
upon fear, and doubt upon doubt. But to silence them 
«I1, He who is the guardian of Israel has given 
assurance upon assurance, and none more encourag- 
mg than this, " I have graven thee on the palms 
i>f my hands." Does a mother love her child? Is 
she sleepless in her vigilance, and inventive in her 
care for his welfare? So will I be towards thee. 
But a mother may forget her child ; there are 
mothers who, like the ostrich, can utterly neglect 
their offspring. But I will not forget thee. To 
assure thee of that, " I have graven thee on the 
palms of my hands ; " and as the hands are ever 
before the eyes, thou art ever before me. The 
immutability of God is thus thy pledge — immuta- 
bility in league with love. 

Now, with an assurance so full of consolation, 
what can become a believer so well, as the ex- 
clamation, " Sing, heavens ; and be joyful, O 
earth; and break forth into singing, mountains; 
for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will 
nave mercy upon his afflicted ? " Far from forgetting 
us anna our waywardness, or leaving us to be filled 



TIIE PROVINCE OF FAITH. 201 

vrith the fruits of our own devices, our covenant 
God has given us promise upon promise, to assure, 
console, and uphold us. I am poor and needy, but 
the Lord thinketh on me ; I am unstable as water, 
but in the Lord have I both righteousness and 
strength; I am less than the least of all saints, if 
I be a saint at all ; but where is the portion of 
the Word in which it is written, thy salvation 
depends on thy being a great saint, or even on 
thy having great faith ? It is to faith, and not to 
great faith, that the promises are made ; and though 
our faith might be great, and should be great, yet 
faith like a grain of mustard-seed can take hold 
of Christ, and in his strength we can do all things. 
That is the spirit in which the Holy One would 
animate and cheer us. Be his simple Word, then, 
the basis of our hope ; and our faith, like the morn- 
ing light, will grow brighter and brighter, till it 
be lost in vision for ever. 

THE PROOF. 

44 When my father and ray mother forsake me, then the Lord 
▼ill take me up." - Psalm xxvii. 10. 

THE RESOLUTION. 

" I grasp the promise of my God 
His power shall be my stay; 
O, need that soul be desolate, 
Where grace holds welcome away?" 



Sal&sitjan Utah Bun. 

"looking unto jesus." — Iltb. xii. 2. 

IS the soul still unpardoned, and bowed down by 
the condemnation of God ? Then behold the 
Lamb, that there may be " no condemnation." 

Is the soul troubled, and anxious, lest it should 
perish in its sins ? Then look to Him, that the 
burden which weighs you down may be utterly 
removed. 

Does the soul remember the time when it was 
better with it than now — when this world had less 
power to enthrall, and the next more power to 
elevate and attract? Then behold the Lamb, and 
seek grace to return and do your first works, that 
the soul may again rejoice. 

Is the soul at ease in Zion, and exposed to the 
woe denounced upon those who are so ? Then 
look to Jesus, that he may rescue from the fearful 
pit and the miry clay, into which you are in danger 
of sinking again. 

Or has the soul some reason to hope that it is 
growing in grace ? Is Christ more precious, is sin 
more hateful, is holiness more sought, is heaven 
more in your thoughts, is the spell of earth weaker 
than it was a year ago ? Then look to Him who 
takes away the sin of the world, for strength to 
Devices the triumph. His grace began it, and 



TIIE MAN OF SORKOWS. 203 

the same grace must complete it ; for grace must 
have all the glory, and that is the secret of the 
conquest of sin. 

Or is the soul weeping beside the dying, or mourn- 
ing for the dead ? Is the heart like to break, because 
some much-loved object has been torn from your em- 
brace, and carried to the narrow house ? Then look 
to the Saviour, and be soothed amid it all. He was 
the Man of Sorrows and is still our peace ; he sends 
the Comforter ; and though trials were to come as 
thick upon the soul as they did upon the stricken 
Job, grace would enable the believer, even amid 
tears, to say with the patriarch, " Though he slay 
me, yet will I trust in Him." 

Hast thou learned, or art thou learning, my soul, 
this simple lesson of " beholding the Lamb ; " or is 
the command to do so only so many syllables to 
thee ? O do not forget that thy eternity depends 
on looking in faith to the Saviour of the lost. 

THE PROOF. 

'■ And looking upon. Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the 
La^nb of God." — John i. 36. 

THE HYMN. 

" As pales the star at sunrise, 
vSo lades each mortal thing, 
"When the soul, illumed from heaven, 
First sees its Saviour-King. 

u Lo, hib the hand that guides us, 
His grace our guilt forgives, 
Look, then, to him, ye laden, 
The soul, in looking, lives." 



'* COME, SEE A MAN WHICH TOLD ME ALL THINGS THAT EVER 

I did: is not this the christV" — John iv. 29. 

WHEN a portrait has been painted by the hand 
of a master, one peculiarity of it is, that it 
seems to gaze upon every one who sees it. Though 
ten thousand times ten thousand could contemplate 
it at once, it would still appear to be calmly return- 
ing the look of each. 

And so with the Saviour of sinners. It was not 
merely the woman of Samaria who felt that he 
knew all her history and condition. It is the same 
with every soul that comes seriously and solemnly, 
as for life and death, to deal with the Son of God. 
He looks us through and through, and with the eye 
of his omniscience intently fixed upon us, he is pre- 
pared to deal with us, according to our various con- 
ditions. He knows all our sins, and has mercy to 
pardon them ; our weakness, and has grace to turn it 
into strength ; our temptations, and is prepared to 
give us the victory over them all ; our enemies, and 
will subdue them ; our sorrows, and will either soothe 
them, or give us patience to acquiesce in his holy 
awards. In a word, in whatever condition the be- 
liever may be, the Saviour has been there before 
him ; there to turn tears into joy at last ; to make 
our very trials minister to our peace ; to compass 



THE TWO WORDS. 205 

us about with songs of deliverance, and make all 
things work together for our good. 

Such is the Saviour provided for sinners. Now, 
the eye of some immortal being is running along 
these syllables, which we know, upon God's author- 
ity, to be true, and let me ask — Is that Saviour a 
Saviour to thee? Hast thou found out his exquisite 
adaptation to the soul? As face answers to face in 
a glass, the gospel is adapted to man, whether we 
see it or no. make sure, then, that the Saviour 
provided is thy Saviour ; and then go up through 
the wilderness rejoicing. In the written Word, the 
soul which is born from above finds a light to the 
feet, and a lamp to the path ; but in the Word made 
Jlesh, it finds all that it can ever need either in 
time or for ever. 

THE PROOF. 

'* Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed 
not, and who should betray him."— John vi. 64. 

THE HOPE. 

" No deed, no word, no secret thought 
Escapes that naming eye; 
But not less true this blessedness — 
God hears the contrite sigh. 

"And as the lake at summer's evo 
Reflects the sun and sky, 
That soul may feel the Saviour shad 
His soothing sympathy/' 



%%t ^uwttxnt}} of th Soul. 

"l WILL BE TO THEM AS A LITTLE SANCTUARY." — Ezek. xi. 16. 

IT is thus that He against whom sinners have re- 
belled continues to deal with them — thus that 
he seeks to reclaim them, and prepare a people to 
himself. His love he cannot take from the sheep of 
his pasture, nay, having loved them with an everlast- 
ing love, he bears with them amid countless wander- 
ings. By his long-suffering he leads them to repent- 
ance ; and though he will be avenged on their sins, 
he will save themselves, though it should be as by 
fire. 

And O, mark with what kindness he undertakes 
to be as a little sanctuary to them in the time of 
trouble ! He will not connive at their transgressions ; 
for sin, which is ever hateful to the Holy One, is 
hateful most of all in his own children. But still 
he will open a city of refuge for them. He will 
provide a hiding-place from the storm. He will 
cover them as with the hollow of his hand. His 
own gracious words are : " I will be a little sanc- 
tuary unto them" — I, against whom they have re- 
belled — I, whom they have grieved by preferring 
my creatures to myself — I, who had set my heart 
upon them, while they would none of me — even I 
will be their sanctuary and hidir g-place. In me 
they shall have rest, though they have wearied me 



SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST. 207 

with their transgressions, and made me to serve 
with tLiiv s'ins. 

Surely this is not after the manner of man ! 
burely this is saving to the uttermost ! " When 
thine enemy hungers, feed him ; when he is athirst, 
give him drink," is the divine command ; and does 
not the Holy One do as he commands ? He is 
himself the sanctuary of his people. He will make 
them dwell there, and adorn them at last with the 
beauties of his holiness; and even the King eternal, 
immortal, and invisible, cannot do more for the souls 
of the sinful. They may still prefer some lying 
vanity, or place their confidence in a creature rather 
than in God over all. But when He says " come,' 1 
do we flee to the Rock ? When He opens up a 
way, do we hasten along it to himself? Then let 
the heart of him rejoice that seeks the Lord. He 
who began the good work will carry it on to per- 
fection ; and, even though the last enemy were 
assailing, the soul would find a sanctuary in its 
God. 

THE PROOF 

" Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let hiiri be your fear, and let 
him be your 'tread. And he shall be lor a sanctuary.' — Isa. viii. 13, 14. 

THE REFUGE. 

"How safe the timid, trembling soul, 
Beneath his sheltering wing! 
Though Satan tempt, or death should frown, 
Yhat soui may triumphs sing.'' 



" GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IH 

the world." — 1 John iv. 4. 

SHOULD such a man as I flee ? was the ques- 
tion asked by one of old, and the same ques- 
tion may still be asked by every believing soul. 

Should I flee, when omnipotence is on my side ? 

Should I flee, when He who called the world into 
being is my buckler, and my high tower? 

Should I flee, when the whole armor of God is 
laid down for my use, and when I have directions 
the most explicit for employing it? 

Or if Omnipotence be not enough to encourage 
and tranquillize me, then let the appeal be to 
Omniscience to reenforce it. My God knows my 
temptations as well as my weakness. He sees how 
numerous are my enemies, and that my dangers are 
in proportion. He understands my thoughts afar 
off, and is ready to make me more than a conqueror 
in my saddest hour. Why, then, art thou cast down, 
my soul? what should discourage thee? The friend 
of my affections ; the child of my soul ; the brother 
of my inmost confidence : the friend with whom I 
have often taken sweet counsel — is swept away with 
a stroke, and the trial threatens to crush me. Yet 
why should it do so, when my God and Saviour is 
my Rock ? 



TIIK SKCUKT OV STRENGTH. 209 

Again ; the rude world, with its resistless current, 
threatens to sweep me away, so that I often exceed- 
ingly fear and quake — it seems impossible to prevail 
where enemies are at once so numerous and so 
powerful. But let the agitated soul fall back on the 
ravine assurance, " Greater is he that is in us, than 
he that is in the world ; " and when that word is be- 
lieved, it will impart a portion at once of the peace 
and the strength of Jehovah. " For who is God save 
the Lord? or who is a Rock save our God?" — " He 
is the Rock, and his work is perfect," and under His 
shadow, we are safe from Satan, the world, and the 
flesh. Unbelief clings to what acts like the torpe- 
do, benumbing and deadening whatever it strikes ; 
but faith lays hold of One who imparts his own 
strength to all who repose upon Him, and that is the 
secret of the believer's triumph. Take that secret to 
guide the soul, and conquer. Neglect or ignore it, 
and death ensues. 

THE PROOF. 

" The Lord liveth ; and blessed be my Rock ; and let the God 
of my salvation be exalted." — Psalm xviii. 46. 



" Mark yon proud embattled host 
Rush on in fiery shock; 
They seek to vanquish God's redeemed, 
But find He is their Rock. 

u Ten thousand times ten thousand, 
Recoil when he defends; 
And feeble arms grow mighty. 
When Omnipotence befriends." 

R* 



|0g Qtstattli. 



" THOUGH THOU WAST ANGRY WITH ME, THINE ANGi»« IS 
TURNED AWAY, AND THOU COMFORTEDST ME." — Isaiah X'.l. *. 

THE Holy One might well be angry — angry ir 
proportion as the blessings which he had be- 
stowed were slighted ; but he could not keep his 
anger for ever; nay, it was turned away. The 
leath which made reconciliation for the sins of the 
people, was contemplated by Him who cannot look 
on sin ; and peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ was the result. 

And how often is it thus in the history of the 
soul ! When it is first awakened, or first compelled 
to face the question, "What must I do to be saved?" 
it frequently feels as if that eye which glares so 
ominously on sin, were scorching it with an angry 
glance. But when that agitated one has been taught 
to " believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," then anger is 
turned away, and it is comforted, even by Him who 
was dreaded as an enemy before. 

Or when a child of God has fallen into sin, when 
he has gone back to the world, and returned to 
folly ; then again the light of our Father's counte- 
nance is darkened with a frown. But are we 
humbled under it ? Do we flee once more to the 
fountain opened for sin? Do wc walk softly, and 
ashamed at the remembrance of our folly? Then 



CORltfcCTlONS BLESSED. 211 

God comforts us again — He speaks peace; His 
anger is turned away, and be delights in mercy. 

Or does faith grow weak, and slip from the rock 
of truth, to the sandbank or the wave of feeling? 
Then again, God seems to forsake us, or rather w< 
forsake him ; and our joy is necessarily turned into 
mourning. But does faith resume its sway ? Doe 
it rest again upon the simple truth, independent of 
all suspicions and all hard thoughts? Then, wheu 
our covenant with him by sacrifice is renewed, we 
also renew our youth like the eagle. We joy in 
God, while the consolations of the Comforter are 
again imparted to the soul. — Such is the course 
along which many a child of God is led to glory. 
They would draw back to perdition, were they for- 
saken by God ; but at one time, the terrors of the 
Lord, and at another time his smile and his love, 
urge them onward to their appointed home. Few 
of us can bear "perpetual sunshine : we need the 
biting frost as well as the refreshing dew ; and both 
are in mercy sent. 

THE PKOOF. 

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sia U 
covered." — Psalm xxxii. 1. 

THE CONVICTION. 

'•As summer's sun may clouded be, 
Or autumn's riches blighted; 
So God may frown; but still his owu 
Are to their Lord united." 



%\t gifi Qtttibti. 



"BEHOLD, GOD IS MY SALVATION; I WILL TRUST, AND Nt>T 

*S afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and 
my song; he also is become my salvation." — Isa\ah xii. 2. 

WE should not fail to notice here, how appro- 
priating is the language which is employed. 
It is not merely salvation — it is my salvation ; and 
the sentiment is twice repeated, as if the soul would 
press out all the blessedness which it contains. Nor 
is even that enough : It is added, " The Lord Jeho- 
vah is my strength and my song." Not a creature 
— that would not have sufficed ; not one of the u gods 
many" to which the Gentiles appealed — that would 
have been only a refuge of lies. It was accordingly 
the Lord Jehovah, the eternal I am, that was the 
strength and the song of the prophet, or the souls 
which he personified. 

And why should our faith not be as appropriating 
still ? Is the Lord's word less true ? Are his 
promises fewer? Is he less able, or less willing 
to save ? Nay, He is the Lord, he changes not ; 
and we might therefore repose as peacefully on his 
mercy, as did the believer to whom this text refers. 
Or more than this : not merely are we at liberty 
thus to repose with certainty on God — we are com- 
manded to "give diligence to make our callirg and 
election sure" Not a peradventure ; not a hope 
which may end in despair; not a salvation which 



ASSUKANGK. 215 

mp.y prove to be perdition ; but something sure 4 
deiinite, and fixed, is what the believer should aim 
at : and he is satisfied with something less than 
God has placed within his reach, who sits down 
contented with a peradventure, when certainty might 
be enjoyed. Freely take, then, what God so freely 
offers. Do not turn the glad tidings of great joy 
into a cause of sorrow. Let the Lord Jehovah be 
your song, and the unchanging blessedness will begin 
even amid the sorrows and the crosses of earth. 
Look upon the rainbow spanning the earth in its 
beauty, and whence that lovely form ? The dark 
cloud behind it — the rain drops and the sun are its 
cause — and in like manner, man may often be most 
blessed when his trials and his tears are mos* 
abundant. If these trials compel him to appeal to 
the Comforter, if they estrange him from the things 
which perish in the using, and warn him to flee 
in hope to the appointed stronghold, they are like 
ministering angels sent on errands of mercy to the 
soul. 

THE PROOF. 

44 'Therefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your 
calling and election su*e: for if you do these things, ye fchaU 
never full." — 2 Pet. i. 10. 

THE WELCOME. 

44 Mv life, my joy, my strength, and hope, 
^ly Righteousness and peace — 
lie that the language of my soul, 
Till all my doubt'ngs cease." 



Streams in tqe §m.tt. 

"WITH JOY SHALL YE DRAW WATER OUT OF THK WKLLf 

of sAL ,r »^ T ON." — Isaiah xii. 3 

THE Shepherd of Israel has promised that bread 
shall be provided and water made sure ; ar.vi 
here is a fulfilment of the assurance. The wells ot 
salvation were to yield that water, as heaven itself 
was to supply the bread of life — the Saviour. 

And the purposes of these waters are twofold. 
First, they purify. Till that be done, there can be 
no blessedness for man ; even the Shepherd of Israel 
cannot impart true joy, as long as we continue in 
sin. They are the pure who are the peaceful ; they 
shall even see God. 

But the waters which the wells of salvation yield, 
serve a second purpose — they refresh while they 
purify. Streams in the desert, rivers of water in a 
dry place, and similar figures, are often employed to 
set forth the blessedness of Gospel times, and this 
is the meaning of the words before us. Now, how 
blessed that all this is free ! without money and 
without price it may be enjoyed. Nay, various 
influences are brought to bear upon us to induce 
us to enjoy it. "The Spirit says, Come; ,, that is, 
He whom the Saviour sent to show us what salva- 
tion is, would guide us to the fountain. "And the 
Bride says, Come ; " that is, the Church takes up 



1 ro:.::v ; £l£ 

the appeal, and presses it upon .1.1 who will listen. 
"And he who heareth is to say, Comc; M that is, all 
are to use their influence to bring sinners to the wells 
of salvation. " He that is athirst is to come," for 
here alone can thirst be really quenched — every- 
where else we attempt to quench it with brine. "And 
whosoever will, is to come." Without limit, and 
without restriction, all may come ; all are needy, and 
therefore all are welcome v when the God of grace 
spreads a table in the wilderness, and opens up streams 
in the desert. 

Now, is not this like the very sunshine of heaven 
beaming upon the soul ? What more can we ever 
expect to enjoy, till we dwell on the banks of that 
stream which gladdens the city of our God ? There 
are not two heavens for men although they often 
vainly dream that there are. There is but one — 
This is the land of our pilgrimage, and happy are 
they who are using earth only as their path to glory 
— supported or encouraged by the way, but never 
supposing that that way is their home. 

THE PROOF. 

" There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city 
of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. ' — 
Psalm xlvi. 4. 

THE JOV. 

11 0, why should the hearts of believers despond, 
As if from their God they were driven? 
Nav, welcome the joy which he graciously sheds, 
To cheer the steep'pathway to heaven." 



®l]t Sfgirii of frith*. 

"and in that day shall ye say, praise the lord, call 
upon his name, declare his doings among the people, 

MAKE MENTION THAT HIS NAME IS EXALTED." — Isaidll xii L 

BLESSINGS beyond what can be counted are 
enjoyed by the children of men. Every 
breath is adding to their number, both as regardo 
the body and the soul, and yet, as if we had a title 
to them all and more, we seize upon the gift, and 
forget to praise the Giver. As when the ten leper? 
were cleansed, only one returned to thank his deli- 
verer, few are ready now with thanksgiving for the 
mercies which they enjx v in such ample abundance. 

And yet in the Word *? God we have line upon 
line to teach us to praise Cow earnest is " the man 
after God's own heart," that we should be much in 
that employment, and how largely does he exemplify 
in his own practice, the lesson which he taught to 
others ! In the same spirit, in the verse before us, 
" Praise the Lord," is one invitation, " Proclaim his 
name," is another, " Declare his doings among the 
people," is a third, and " Make mention that his name 
may be exalted," is a fourth. Tho prophet cannot be 
sufficiently urgent. He sees or he feels so much f >r 
which we ought to praise our God, that he presses, 
and returns to press the privilege upon us. And 
surely they forsake their own mercies who neglect it 



SPIRITUAL JOY. 217 

— they multiply their own joys who have learned 
"in every thing to give thanks" — to pour out the 
heart in prayer for mercies needed, and in praise for 
mercies received. Learn, then, my soul, to enjoy 
this hallowing privilege. It will bring thee near to 
God, and prepare thee for more and more of his mer- 
cies. Think how much thou receivest, and all unde- 
served, in the course of a single day or hour ; and if 
that do not draw forth thy praise, thy spirit is not 
Isaiah's ; the doubt may arise, " Is God recognized 
and glorified by me at all ? " 

It cannot be doubted that the religion of Jesus is 
designed to make us happy. The very God of peace 
would thereby diffuse a portion of the joy of heaven 
through man's heart upon earth. And how can that 
be better promoted than by cherishing the spirit of 
praise — by recognizing God's goodness in every gift, 
and thanking him for it by acknowledging our own 
unworthiness, and the Lord's loving-kindness ! When 
life on earth is thus a hymn, existence in heaven will 
be one long hosanna. 

THE PROOF. 

•'Abounding therein with thanksgiving." — Col. ii. 7. 

THE ANTHEM. 

u Exult, my soul, in a Saviour's grace, 
Let thy heart with his praises run o'er; 
Be my life a long anthem of praise to that love 
Which has opened the heavenly store." 



Snrnlu SaMr. 



"IF THE RIGHTEOUS SCARCELY BE SAVED, V> T HERE SHALL 
THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APrEAR? " — 1 Pel. iv. 18. 

NO opinion is more common among the unthinking 
sons of men, than that salvation is easy, and 
that to a work it out with fear and trembling," is a 
superfluous injunction in the Word of God. Compli- 
ance with a few outward forms; some cold and de- 
cent formalities ; whitewashing the outside of the 
cup and the platter ; — these and similar things are 
deemed sufficient by thousands to prepare them for 
eternity, in as far as they think of their souls at all. 

But he who leads Joseph like a flock, is careful to 
undeceive us here, and impress us with the conviction 
that, though salvation be easy as regards the power 
of God, it is difficult as regards the waywardness of 
man. " The righteous shall scarcely be saved ; " " It 
will be so as by fire ; " "Not every one that saith unto 
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven ; " 
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trem- 
bling;" or, "Beware lest a promise of entering in 
being left to us, any of you should seem to come short 
of it " — these are some of the texts by which he who 
knows what is in man, would warn us to make salva- 
tion sure. And happy they who are warned, who 
lean on the strength and take counsel of the wisdom 
which the Holy One provides ! Have I, then, acted 



EVIL COMMUNICATIONS. 219 

thus? Is that strength my resting-place? Then it 
will be perfected in my weakness. Is that wisdom 
my counsellor? Then coming from above it will 
guide me thither, and the joy of the Lord will be my 
strength for ever. Meanwhile, I may comply with 
the prophet's lesson, and "sing unto the Lord, for he 
hath done excellent things; this is known in all the 
earth." 

Amid the countless difficulties which hinder our 
entering on the narrow way, or impede our progress 
after we have entered, the friendships of the world 
rank among the most embarrassing. In the view of 
these we may well ask — Who then can be saved? 
But while we ask the question, let us not overlook 
the reply — " With God all things are possible." He 
can carry us with triumph through an host of ad- 
versaries, and the friend who sticketh closer than a 
brother, is revealed for that very end. 

THE PROOF. 

"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through 
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom 
Of Ocd." — Matt. xix. 24. 

THE HOPE. 

"The eternal Spirit is my strength, 
Were he to change, I perish; 
But changeless still, the hope of life 
N-.? b.ds me freely cherish." 



t 'B.tut of <M. 



"be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer 
and sufplication, with thanksgiving, let your request 
be made known unto god. and the peace of god, which 
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts 

AND MINDS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS." — Phil. iv. 6, 7. 

THE abundance of the teeming earth is but a type 
of the affluence with which God has provided 
consolation or joy for his people. It is true, many 
of them walk in sackcloth, and sit in darkness, seeing 
no light. They hang clown their heads like a bul- 
rush. They mourn in their complaint, and make a 
noise. As if the Saviour had come to immure or 
imprison, instead of opening the prison doors to them 
that are bound, many walk in chains ; they seem 
even to be afraid to be happy. 

Yet O, how beautiful is the provision which God 
has made for happiness to the believer ! Great peace, 
perfect peace, Christ's peace, and the very pea?e of 
God — seem to be the gradations by which tl.-j Holy 
One guides us to blessedness ; for His mind obviously 
is, that man should be led back to Eden, or that he 
should delight himself in the abundance of peace, as 
pardoned and accepted by his God. 

And the word of God makes all that not merely 
a privilege, but a duty. We are enjoined to be 
careful, that is, anxious or fretful, about nothing. 






C O N T K N T M K NT. 221 

We are to commit our way unto God, with prayer 
for his grace and thanksgiving for his gifts. We 
are to cast all our cares upon him who cares for us; 
and when our burden is thus cast upon the Lord, 
he will keep us in perfect peace, the very peace 
of God. Now, let the soul rejoice that all this is 
made sure through Him in whom all the promises 
are yea and amen. ik Through Jesus Christ our 
Lord," is the crowning mercy of all. Upon that 
the soul should repose, and practise there the deep 
lesson of the apostle, " I can do all things through 
Christ who strengthened me ; I have learned in 
whatsoever state I am to be therewith content." 
How blessed they whom the Spirit of God is guid- 
ing thus ! A crust may be their richest fare ; a hovel 
may be their home ; or their soul may dwell in a frail 
tabernacle which is slowly but daily decaying — but 
as an heir of glory, such a man is rich indeed — 
and in the world of realities all will be put right. 

THE ASSURANCE. 

" My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in 
glory by Christ Jesus." — Phil. iv. 19. 

THE HYMN. 

" how exhaustless the believer's store ! 

The grace, the peace, the very life of God, 
All, all are his, that he may tear no more, 
But walk in triumph to bis blest abode." 



mffto t\t fjofri." 



"THEN shall we know, if we follow on to know THE 

loud." — Hosea vi. 3. 

NOT merely by beginning to inquire. Not merely 
by running well for a time. Not merely 
by turning our faces Zionward for a season. Not 
oy a few spasmodic efforts, as if one struggle or 
a few could take the kingdom of heaven by force. 
But by commencing, by continuing, by pressing 
into the kingdom, by never wearying in well-doing, 
by never thinking that we have already attained, 
or are already perfect, by going on unto perfection, 

and holding; the beginning of our confidence Stead- 
CD o © 

fast unto the end — - it is by that process that we 
arrive at the knowledge of God, in his mercy, his 
compassion, his power and willingness to save us 
in Christ. 

But when we do set our face thus steadfastly 
towards Jerusalem, how firm and valid are our 
guaranties, how infallible the assurance that we 
shall be guided in a right way to a city which hath 
foundations ! Jehovah himself is our strength, his 
truth is a light to our path, and the consolations 
which he sheds around us cheer us on the way. 
Correction comes to stimulate, harassing cares are 
sent to rouse us. Dangers arise to show us the 
need of the heavenly Shield ; but amid all these 



PROGRESS. 223 

he is at our right hand, and we grow in knowledge 
as we grow in days. 

Look back, then, my soul, on the days that are 
past. As in the sight of the Heart-searcher, does 
it appear that progress has been made? Art thou 
following on to inherit life, or drawing back to 
perdition ? Having put thy hand to the plough, 
art thou looking back, and so forfeiting the harvest 
of glory ; or art thou sowing well, and preparing to 
reap well, that is, sowing to the Spirit, and expect- 
ing the fruit to be unto everlasting life ? 

On the sea-beach after a storm we sometimes see 
the fragments of some stately vessel, or portions of 
her cargo cast upon the shore. All tells of disaster 
and death, and the heart sinks at the thought of 
the strong men who there found a watery grave. 
Now that spectacle finds a parallel in the case of 
those who make shipwreck of the faith ; who run 
well, but are hindered after a season, and so draw 
back to perdition. 

THE PROOF. 

"Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace; thereby good 
ahall come unto thee." — Job xxii. 21. 

THE HYMN. 

" Onward! be that the Christian's cry, 
Upward! there fix: the Christian's eye, 
A throne! be that the Christian's aim, 
And, Welcome Heaven! his last acclaim." 



Iju gjftssttrioas fif*. 

14 YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD." — Q)L UL 3. 

P1HHE believer's life is hid from the worldly man's 
-i- eye; it is something which he cannot under- 
stand, or with which he cannot sympathize. To 
walk with God, to endure or to enjoy as seeing God 
who is invisible, to seek habitual communion with 
Him, to be happy when he is near, but restless and 
unsatisfied when the light of his countenance is 
darkened — all these are utterly shadowy or strange 
to the majority of men. But when our hearts have 
been touched by a heavenly power, and turned to 
heavenly things, then all mysterious as the joys of 
a child of God might once appear, they become clear 
and exhilarating now — the very heart is made glad 
by them. It does not need to wander from object 
to object, or scene to scene, asking " Who will show 
us any good?" or exclaiming, "They have taken 
away my gods, and what have I left?" Nay, that 
heart finds repose, and a perfectly suitable portion, in 
the hidden things of God. They are hidden from 
the wise and the prudent, but they are revealed unto 
babes ; and even amid the cares and troubles of 
earth, such a soul feels that it has more than it can 
ask. It has returned to its Father's home and heart. 
It is now perfectly blessed in kind, and waits for 
the time when it shall be perfect also in degree. 



LIVING KPISTLES. 225 

While the believer has a life which is thus hid 
with Christ in God, or joys with which the world 
cannot intermeddle, he has also a life which is seen 
and read of all men. They have reason to take 
knowledge of him that he has been with Jesus, and 
that he is of a different spirit from them, because 
his presence is often a check to their folly and 
their sin. These are the living epistles of the 
Lord Jesus ; they are, in one sense, the Lord's 
remembrancers ; they are the salt of the earth, or 
cities set upon a hill. They are God's witnesses 
like the Jews of old ; and there lives force upon 
the notice of an unwilling world, both the holy 
goodness and the holy severity of God. Their 
hidden life ministers strength for their public duty, 
as the germ of immortality is also the germ of per- 
sonal holiness in the ransomed of the Lord. 

THE PROOF. 

" I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, becausa 
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast 
revealed them unto babes." — Matt. xi. 25. 

THE HYMN. 

" The faithful soul's mysterious joy 
Eludes the worldly eye; 
But grace shed o'er that soul by God, 
Unveils the mystery." 



Itomtoiing, itt $tjffuing. 

"in all their affliction he was afflicted." — haiah 
lxiii. 9. 

IT is by such a scripture that we are enabled to 
read the very heart of our God. " So he was 
their Saviour," precedes these words ; and we thus 
learn how thoroughly be sympathizes with those 
who mourn. His people are an afflicted and a 
poor people: He chooses them in the furnace of 
affliction, and the man that has seen affliction is the 
object of his peculiar care. Though his redeemed 
are often destitute, afflicted, and tormented — though 
the afflictions of the righteous are many — though 
they must often receive the word with much afflic- 
tion ; in short, though they be often " bound in 
affliction and iron," the Man of Sorrows still sym- 
pathizes with them. He suffers in our suffering ; 
He waits to deliver ; and as soon as the rod of 
correction has accomplished the purpose for which 
it was employed, it will be laid aside or consumed. 
It is sin that draw r s down affliction, and does it 
lead us to hate sin and love holiness? Then it has 
accomplished its design, and the peaceable fruits of 
righteousness will be the result. 

I cleave, then, to the Man of Sorrows. I would 
rather suffer affliction with the people of God, than 
enjoy the pleasures of sin. When I am rebuked, 






THE BRUISED REED. 227 

I would endure chastening without impatience, and 
look for profit in hope. I would remember that 
" the Lord hath seen the affliction of his people/ 
and though he give them the bread of affliction 
to eat, I would still say, " Happy is the man whom 
the Lord correcteth." I would make every afflic- 
tion a new errand to his throne. Thither I would 
go for the Spirit, the Comforter, for the sympathy 
of the Man of Sorrows ; and then I am sure that, 
sooner or later, as one whom his mother comforts, 
the Lord will comfort his people. O holy Saviour, 
" look upon mine affliction : " " I cry to thee out of 
my affliction : " "I am holden in the cords of afflic< 
tion." " But this is my comfort there, that thy Word 
hath quickened me." Free me, then, O God, my 
Saviour, from my pain ; let thy Spirit comfort and 
sustain ; but O, make me yet more anxious to profit 
by my sorrow, than to have it removed. May it be 
to me a proof of thy love, not of thy wrath ; so shall 
I praise thee even for my tears. 

THE PROOF. 

" We glory in tribulation also : knowing that tribulation work- 
eth patience; and patience experience; and experience hope." — 
Bom. v. 3. 4. 

Till- TRIUMPH. 

" Come grief and tears, come crushing woe: 
If grace come with the load, 
Then welcome all — they snap the chains* 
Which keep me from my God." 



%\t fjatjf xrf $ml. 

"quench not the spirit." — 1 Thess. v. 19. 

EVEEY sin has a tendency to that fearful con- 
summation. Do I read the Word of God, with- 
out laying to heart its weighty warnings? I am 
grieving the Spirit, and that grieving may prove 
the prelude to quenching him. Do I kneel down in 
prayer, and yet only mock God because my heart is 
not engaged in his service ? Again I am grieving 
the Spirit, and that may end in quenching Him 
who will not always strive with the children of 
men. Am I adding sin to sin, in spite of warnings, 
and expostulations, and entreaties ? I am on the 
way to quench the Holy Spirit : I do always resist 
Him. Do I feel my conscience remonstrating against 
my ways, while yet I go forward ? Have I my fears 
as to whether my soul be safe, while I hush all these 
fears, and go blindly on unwarned ? Then, I am in 
the way to perpetrate that sin which consists in 
quenching the Holy One; and in that case will be 
left undisturbed, without compunction, or alarm. 
" He is joined to his idols," becomes the verdict 
of Jehovah on such a soul. 

But do I yield to the holy movements of the 
Spirit? In prayer do I cry to him to help my 
infirmities ? In reading the Word, is it my petition 
that He would illumine the sacred page ? In the 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 229 

ordinary intercourse of life — among friends, bre- 
thren, strangers, everywhere — is it my heart's desire 
to be guided by the Holy Spirit, and sanctified 
wholly, even till I have no will but God's? Then 
I am honoring the Spirit of all grace ; living in 
the Spirit, I am also walking in the Spirit, and 
He will show me the things of Christ; the Spirit of 
the Lord will impart liberty indeed. He will make 
the soul one Spirit with the Lord ; in a word, u the 
kingdom of God is within " that soul, or " righteous- 
ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Now, 
is not he duped and deceived, who consents to forego 
that blessedness ? But is not he taught of God, and 
made wise indeed, \v r ho covets earnestly these best 
gifts, and lives as the great Fountain of holiness 
would have him ? 

THE PROOF. 

41 Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it stall 
be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the HcJy 
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven." — Luke xii. 10. 

THE HYMN. 

" Each movement of the Holy One, 

Each joy, each hope, and fear, 

Through Ins :.-v/i: j;ryc,3 I cherish, 

And smile through every tear.** 



% \t &xnt Calm. 

"it is I." — Matt. xiv. 27. 

BY these words the Saviour would dispel every 
fear. If he be near, it is enough; no evil 
thing can befall us, no plague can come near our 
dwelling. 

Is the believer struggling with indwelling sin, 
and does it seem as if it would sweep him away 
with the force of a resistless current? The Saviour 
approaches : " It is I," is heard, and all fear is 
hushed. 

Or is the believer assailed by trials rushing upon 
him like wave upon wave in a stormy sea ? Again 
the Saviour is nigh, and his gracious intimation, 
" It is I," produces a great calm. 

Or is the believer perplexed, as if he were making 
no progress in the divine life, nay, were rather losing 
what he once thought he had acquired ? " It is I," 
may reencourage him, for He who utters these 
words will perfect what concerns us — He has under- 
taken for his people. 

Is the believer drawing near to death, and do 
flesh and blood recoil ? " It is I, be not afraid," 
revives his drooping spirit, and he enters the dark 
valley, perhaps with the song, "I will fear no 
evil." 

Is conscience roused by the prospect of the 



TEMPTATION — TRIUMPH. 231 

judgment ? lias every sin a voice, and does every 
voice seem to exclaim, "The soul that sinneth shall 
die?" "It is I," uttered by Ilim whose blood 
cleanses us from all sin, may well reassure the 
troubled. 

Does Satan pour in his fiery darts, and is this 
the keenest of them all? — What hope hast thou, 
thou, who hast sinned so long, so often, and so 
resolutely? This, from Him who is the Faithful 
witness, " It is I who can save to the uttermost," 
can at once quench the dart and quell the fear. 

But when the archangel's trump shall sound, 
and the dead, small and great, shall stand before 
the Lord, how shall my soul encounter the glance 
of that eye which is like a flame of fire ? " It is 
I," may invigorate even then; I who am your 
plea, I who am your Advocate, I who am your 
Judge. 

It is thus that the Lord thinks upon us, and 
thus that, all along the path to glory, we may be 
animated to encounter every spiritual foe. 

THE TROOF. 

"Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify 
the Lord God in your hearts." — 1 Pet. iii. 14, 15. 

THE HYMN. 

u ' It is I ! ' he exclaims, and I welcome my Lord, 
To soothe or to hush every fear; 
4 It is 1! ' and the waves which were raging before, 
Calm as infancy sleeping appear." 



"O JERUSALEM, WASH THINE HEART FROM WICKEDNESS, 
THAT THOU MAYEST RE SAVED: HOW LONG SHALL THY VAIN 
THOUGHTS LODGE WITHIN THEE?" — Jer. iv. 14. 

IS not the Redeemer's remonstrance here one to 
which every soul should listen ? Will not the 
holiest of the sons of men enter most profoundly 
into the words, " How long shall vain thoughts 
lodge within thee?" 

It is a vain thought that I can do aught to merit 
the favor of God ; and yet I am constantly cherish- 
ing it. I would come with a bridle in the one 
hand, and a boast in the other. 

It is a vain thought that I can conquer sin in my 
own strength ; and yet I constantly try it, that is, as 
often as I oppose sin at all ; and hence my repeated 
disasters and falls. 

It is a vain thought that I should repent first, 
and then come to Christ. But till I come to him, 
my very repentance is defiled. The true thought 
is, " He is exalted a prince and a Saviour for to 
grant repentance." 

It is a vain thought that I can find rest, or any 
thing but tribulation here below, apart from God. 
The true thought is, "There remaineth a rest for 
the people of God." 

It is a vain thought that I can prosper in the 
way of godliness without constant and assiduous 



RELIGION WITHOUT HOLINESS, FOLLY. 233 

prayer without making the Word of God the man 
of my right hand, and without recurring evermore 
for persevering grace, to Him whose converting grace 
first brought me to myself. 

It is a very vain thought, and has proved the ruin 
of uncounted thousands, that we can be Christians 
without holiness, that is, followers of Christ without 
walking in his footsteps. 

It is a vain thought, that I can do aught that is ac- 
ceptable to God, without the prompting power of the 
Holy Ghost. 

And, to name no more, it is a vain thought to 
think that I can be saved from perdition hereafter, 
unless I am saved from sin here. 

Now, do these thoughts lodge within me ? Then 
they must trouble my peace, they must impede my 
progress, and finally imperil my soul. But do I 
hate such thoughts of vanity ? Do I pray for grace 
to " wash my heart from wickedness, that I may be 
saved ? Then the Lord is teaching. I glorify him 
for his grace, and because he is God and not man, 
such a soul will, live before him. 

THE PROOF. 

"The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of 
the wicked are deceit/' — ritov. xii. 5. 

THE WISH. 

"Away, away, nor mar the peace 
The Holy Spirit sheds; 
Why should the Thoughts of vanity 
Bedim the bliss He spreads?" 



a IOED, REMEMBER ME WHEN THOU COMEST DilO THY KOTO- 

dom.'" — Luke xxiii. 42. 



I 



<* this is not the most singular prayer ever uttered 
by mortal lips, it was uttered in the most sin- 
gular circumstances and a most singular place — by 
the thief on the cross, an hour or two before the 
Bedeemer carried him in triumph to glory, as a 
trophy of grace. 

But that brief prayer, i6 Lord, remember me," has 
gladdened ten thousand times ten thousand and thou- 
sands of thousands of hearts since then. Enough for 
the believer to be just remembered by his Lord — - 
there can be no lack, no disaster, no intolerable 
sorrow then. Lord, remember me when my heart 
and flesh do fail amid temptations. Lord, remember 
me when the enemy comes against me like a flood. 
Lord, remember me when those of my own house- 
hold are my enemies or my plague. Lord, remem- 
ber me when my own heart is threatening to betray 
me.- Lord, remember me when sickness is pressing 
upon me, when friends desert me, w T hen riches take 
to themselves wings and flee away Lord, remem- 
ber me when father and mother forsake me, when 
I am old and gray -headed, when I am near the 
swellings of Jordan, or when I enter the dark waters 
there. To te remembered by thee is enough. For 



Til K PARADOX. 2\ ) 

that I plead, and except thou grant it, I will not let 
thee go ! 

He who asks in that spirit will not be refused. 
The answer to his prayer may not be, " This night 
shalt thou be with me in paradise;" but it will 
assuredly be this: "Where I am thou shalt be for 
ever, to follow the Lamb whituersoever he goes." 
That was a saying of singular condescension, " Con- 
cerning the work of my hands, command ye Me" and 
it is prayer which utters that command. He — - 

" Whose heart is made of tenderness," 

will refuse it nothing. Nay, he will " do as he has 
said," and teach even the most tried believer, who 
frequents the way to the throne of grace, to say — 

■' This is my favored lot — 
My exaltation to afflictions high; 
Afflicted I may be, it seems, and blest." 

THE PROOF. 

" Remember me, Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto 
thy people: visit me with thy salvation; that I may see the 
good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy 
nation, that I may glorv with thine inheritance." — Psalm cvi. 
4, 5. 



"How blessed the Spirit who links to the throne 
Where the soul's widest want is supplied; 
How strong are the weak, how rich are the poor, 
Who pray and trust God to provide? " 



iinntjj in t\t $ax^. 



"be strong in the lord, and in the power op hi* 

MIGHT." — Eph. vi. 10. 

rpHE Saviour of the lost, the brightness of the, 
-L Father's glory, spoke of himself as a worm 
and no man : " But I am a worm, and no man ; a 
reproach of men, and despised of the people" — so 
far did he humble himself in the work which God 
gave him to do. But that was only that his people 
might be exalted ; and O what pains are taken to 
convince us of the strength which was made sure 
by the weakness and abasement of the Redeemer ! 
" As thy day is, so shall thy strength be " — " My 
strength shall be perfected in thy weakness " — 
" Strengthened with all might in the inner man " — 
" He worketh all our works in us, and the work of 
faith with power " — " Unstable as water, we cannot 
excel," but " through Christ strengthening us we 
can do all things." These are some portions of 
Scripture which are designed to assure the believer 
of victory at the last, He cannot successfully resist 
a single temptation in his own strength. He can- 
not mortify a single sin. Even when he would do 
good, evil is present with him, and he is often forced 
to exclaim, li O wretched man that I am ! " But 
still he has a perfect victory in reversion ; he is even 
to be " more than a conqueror through Him who 



TlIK TRIUMPH OF KAITIT. 237 

loved us." The worm Jacob is yet to thrash the 
mountains : " I will strengthen thee, yea, I will 
help thee," is the assurance of the mighty God 
of Jacob. " I will help thee, saith the Lord, and 
thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel ; " and then 
no weapDn forged against us can prosper. The 
Lord is at our right hand, and who is he that can 
injure ? 

Now this may be the joy, as it is the safety of 
the timid soul. A weak faith can take hold of an 
Almighty arm, and then triumph in its strength. 
Were it not so, the strongest would faint and fail ; 
but since it is so, the weakest may overcome, and 
sit down w T ith the Saviour on his throne. 

THE PROOF. 

" Fear thou not ; for I am with thee : be not dismayed ; for I 
am thy God: I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee; yea, 
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." — 
Isaiah xli. 10. 

THE HYMN. 

" From the sword at noon-day wasting, 
From the noisome pestilence, 
At midnight thousands blasting, 
Our God is our defence. 

"Is there safety in omnipotence? 
Is there peace in Salem's king? 
Then hide thee, in thine impotence, 
Beneath his sheltering wing." 



®1]£ f Art alffiu iolkir. 

"CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL." — Col. ill. 11. 

WERE it more habitually the aim of the be- 
liever to glorify his Lord, his peace would 
more speedily be like a mighty river ; but as we 
seek rather to be saved than to see Christ glori- 
fied in our salvation, we are often disquieted and 
perplexed. In our very religion we are apt to be- 
come selfish ; and if we escape from suffering and 
sorrow, the exaltation of the Saviour is too little 
contemplated. Now, in acting thus, we forsake our 
own mercies. True, the Holy one desires our sal- 
vation, and urges us to aim at it with heart and soul. 
Every motive which can rouse or stimulate us to that 
pursuit is employed. But to leave the Saviour's 
glory out of view, is plainly opposed to the will of 
God, and were it our aim that Christ may be mag- 
nified in our salvation ; were it our desire that the 
Son of God should have the glory of saving the 
sons of men ; were it our assiduous endeavor to 
make Christ all, and see him in all, then our sal- 
vation would be more surely promoted, while our 
happiness would be greater, for we should be more 
like-minded with the only wise God. 

Is it so, then, that my soul has been aiming 
rather at salvation than at the glory of Christ in 
my salvation ? In other words, have I been putting 



ABUNDANT PEACE. 239 

a part for the whole ? Then let me cease to won- 
der that the Gospel has not yielded all the peace 
which it seems to promise. Nay, it could not yield 
it, for I have been mutilating the Gospel. But 
henceforth let me follow the Lord fully. Let 
Christ alone be exalted. Let me glory only in the 
Lord; and by that process — the process of divine 
appointment — I shall both fulfil the chief end of 
man, and delight myself in the abundance of peace. 
There is a home which no enemy can enter, and 
which no friend will ever leave. The wicked cease 
from troubling there, and the weary are at rest. 
Now w T hat is it that constitutes the blessedness of 
that abode ? Christ is there. We believe in Him 
here as the Creator of all things, for " without Him 
was not any thing made ; " as the Preserver of all, 
for "by Him all things consist ;" and as the Re- 
deemer of all who shall ever be saved. But there 
we shall see Him as he is, and our heaven would 
begin on this side the grave, did we but live for his 
glory, and rejoice when he is exalted. 

THE FROOF. 

" He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, 
the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the 
preeminence." — Col. i. 18. 

THE HYMN. 

" In * God with us,' my all I see, 
My peace, ray j( v there shine — 
All that I have or nope is his, 
And naught but sin is mine." 



^dtatl}^ fat (£\itx. 

" THY MAKER IS THINE HUSBAND ; THE LORD OF HOSTS IS HIS 
NAME ; AND THY REDEEMER THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL ; THE 
GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL HE BE CALLED. " — Isaiah 
liv. 5. . . 

THIS is a promise to the church; but as the 
whole is composed of its parts, the assurance 
is as applicable to every individual soul as to the 
holy Catholic Church, the universal body of be- 
lievers. 

Thy Maker is thy husband, and he has betrothed 
thee unto him for ever. " I will betroth thee unto 
me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in 
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kind- 
ness, and in mercies." 

Thou may est change, — it is in thine heart to for- 
sake him from hour to hour ; but he undertakes 
for thee, and therefore thou art safe. " For I am 
the Lord, I change not ; therefore ye sons of Jacob 
are not consumed." 

Thy vows would all be forgotten ; thou wouldst 
turn from Him who alone can shelter, like the in- 
fatuated men around thee. But lest any one should 
hurt the soul, he will keep it with omniscient care. 
" I the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every 
moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and 
day." 

Like the prodigal, \bon wouldst become self- 
deceived and self-destroyed. But thy Maker is 



THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. 241 

thy husband — He will defend; and only on that 
account art thou safe. " My Father, which gave 
them to me, is greater than all ; and none is able 
to pluck them out of my Fathers hand." 

"The Lord of Hosts is his name;" on his strength 
therefore, the soul may lean and be sustained — 
"Thy Redeemer," and therefore may we stand fast, 
and rejoice in the liberty with which he makes 
free — "The Holy One of Israel," and therefore in 
holiness like his should the soul be arrayed from 
day to day. And lastly, " The God of the whole 
earth shall he be called." Behold the guaranty 
given to that soul whose Maker is its husband ! 
He whose word commanded the universe to be — 
He whose will gives it law, and whose power con- 
tinues to sustain it — is the strength and the stay 
of such a man. Should we not, then, be covered 
with shame, that any other lord should have domi- 
nion over us ? And should this not be the firm 
resolution of every self-loving soul: "I will go and 
return to my first husband, for then it was better 
with me than now?" 

THE PROOF 

" I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." — Song vi. <L 

THE HYMN. 

"I lean upon that mighty arm 

Which launched the worlds abroad, 
And there I find my soul's defence, 
My Saviour and my God." 

U 



" I WILL NOT Bl. AFRAID OF TEN THOUSANDS OF 2 EOPL'J 
TTTAT HAVE SET T fEMSELVES AGAINST ME HOUND ABOUT." — 

Psalm iii. 6. 

WHAT neid we fear, when the Lord Almighty 
is like walls and bulwarks round about us? 
What can hurt or offend, when the Lord's name is 
our strong tower into which we may run and be 
safe ? Who is he that will injure, if the Lord 
of Hosts be on our side ? If He who made the 
earth and the heavens, who stills the tumults of 
the people, and turns their fierceness into peace, 
be for us, who can be against us ? The man after 
God's own heart was sometimes timid and dejected 
like other men : " I shall one day perish," was his 
conviction then, because he had forgotten who it is 
that upholds ; his faith grew feeble, and he fell. 
But at other times, David was bold as a lion. 
"Why should such a man as I flee?" — " I will 
not be afraid of ten thousands of people" — "The 
Lord of Hosts is with us." — These, and such as 
these, were the holy man's confidence ; and he could 
therefore "run through a troop" of opponents, 

Now, in the one case, David is a beacon to warn us 
of danger ; in the other, he is a model to be copied. 
There is danger in forgetting the Lord, as well as 
in forsaking him ; and the moment that we forget 
hinr, we are tottering to our fall. But do we re- 



THE HIGH TOWEH. 243 

member the years of the Most High? When the 
soul is overwhelmed and in perplexity, is it to the 
Rock that is higher than we that we flee? Then 
there is safety and a sure defence for us there. It 
may be with us as it was with Athanasius of old 
while he defended God's truth, and stood "alone 
against the world ; " but though even that were 
the case — though we had not a single like-minded 
man with whom to take sweet counsel — He who 
keeps Israel would keep us like the apple of his 
eye. 

It were wanton cruelty to lay a stumbling-block 
across the path of the blind. It would involve all 
the malignity of a murderer, to put poison in the 
wells of a city. But worse than that are they who 
would entice the soul away from the munition of 
rocks ; who would tempt us to make God a liar, 
and rush against his buckler, instead of being 
sheltered by his shield. " Into their assembly, 
mine honor, be not thou united." Make Him thy 
sure defence, and live and die rejoicing. 

THE PROOF. 

M Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, and hu 
ffork is perfect. 11 — Deut. xxxii. 3, 4. 

CONFIDENCE. 

" When the surge of the ocean is foaming, 
The rock laughs the fury to scorn; 
And the soul which has sought the High Tower, 
Far above every tempest is borne." 



"I AM LESS THAN THE LEAST OF ALL SAINTS." — Epk. HI. 8. 

LESS than the least ! Is not that the language 
of extravagance or hyperbole? Could the 
apostle feel as he here says ? Is it not exaggera- 
tion? 

Such have been the views of some who knew not 
the Spirit who dwelt in Paul ; but every child of 
God can, in some measure, enter into the apostle's 
meaning. If he might compare himself with the 
standards of earth, and be satisfied because he is 
like other sinners beside him, no such lowly con- 
fession would be heard. But the believer, whether 
in apostolic times or now, tests himself by the 
heavenly standard. It is a light matter for him 
to be judged of man's judgment ; there is one that 
judgeth, even God. Perfection, therefore, is the 
model which the believer proposes ; and hence his 
lowly confessions — hence his mouth is often in 
the dust. The further he ascends, he can just the 
more correctly measure what is still above him in 
the ascent. The holier he becomes, he is only 
enabled the more clearly to see the sinfulness of 
sin. The more Christlike any of the redeemed are 
made, the more accurate is their estimate of what 
nailed him to the tree. The more profound, there- 
fore, are their convictions, the more assured do 



MMRCy NOW. 245 

they feel that of all who are called saints, none so 
often grieve the Holy Spirit as they — they know 
at least of none. Hence their complaints ; but, 
blessed be God, hence also may hope arise. The 
dead never complain ! The outcry, then, is symp- 
tomatic of life ; and as the holiest are always the 
humblest, so they are made glad by the assurance 
that God delights to dwell in the humble and the 
contrite heart. Be the dust, then, my bed ; be 
sackcloth my covering ; and, in the end, He that 
humbled will exalt. He may not take us as he 
took Amos, who was neither a prophet, nor a pro- 
phet's son, and say u Go prophesy unto my people." 
But are we conscious of guilt ? Do we deplore 
it? Are we at the fountain, or on the way to it? 
Then He will not deal with us, as was the case 
with him who lay eight-and-thirty years by the 
pool. Nay, " Thy faith has made thee whole," will 
be the instant gladness of the soul. 

THE PROOF. 

" Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, 
whose name is Holy; 1 dwell in the high and holy place, with hiin 
also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit 
of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." — 
Isaiah IvJi. 15. 

THE HOPE. 

** Low in the dust my soul should lie — 
Is not the Spirit grieved? 
Yet hope may spring, for lo, my God 
Hath every want relieved." 



®l]t (§ttnt €s\xitn$t, 

" AS SORROWFUL, YET ALWAY REJOICING ; AS TOOl, VV.T 
MAKING MANY RICH ; AS HAVING NOTHING, AND YET POSSESS- 
ING ALL THINGS." — 2 0)V. vi. 10. 

HOW mysterious does the Christian life, both in 
its joys and its sorrows, appear to the un- 
converted man ! 

In his joys the Christian is mysterious — for what 
do the unconverted know of the joy of the Lord, 
of joy in the Holy Ghost, of joy in believing, of the 
blessedness of the pardoned, or the fulness of joy 
which flows into the soul, when it is permitted to 
draw near to God, as its covenant God in Christ? 

And in his sorrows as well as his joys, the be- 
liever is a riddle to the worldly man. The child 
of God mourns in his complaint and makes a noise, 
because of his shortcomings in prayer. The uncon- 
verted man either never prays, or a form is suffi- 
cient to soothe his conscience, like a soporific unto 
death. 

The child of God is ceaselessly lamenting over 
the power of indwelling sin. The unconverted man 
is either unconscious of its existence, or turns it 
into mirth. 

The child of God weeps in secret for the sins 
which abound, and rivers of waters run down his 
eyes, because men keep not God's commandments. 
B^t far from sorrowing for that, " fools make a 



TIIK SPORT OF A FOOL. 247 

mock ?it sin ; " they scatter firebrands, arrows and 
death, yet say, Am not I in sport? 

The child of God seeks to be saved from sin, and 
it is his sorrow to commit it, his joy to gain a vic- 
tory over it : but keep an unconverted man from 
sinning, and you consign him prematurely to woe. 

Now, if these things be so, how is it with thee, 
my soul? Is thy joy found in communion with God, 
in holmess, in dying to sin and living unto right- 
eousness? Then the kingdom of God is within thee; 
the King of saints is reigning, and like the child- 
ren of Zion, such souls may be joyful in their King. 
Sorrowful they may be over their condition on 
earth ; poor they may be as regards this world's 
affluence, and unknown among its men ; but they 
can joy in God, they are rich in faith, while the 
Lord knows their way. He guides them with his 
eye, and as the needle trembles and vibrates, with 
a sensibility like life, to the pole, so does that soul 
pant for God, the sun and the centre of its joy. 

THE PROOF. 

u We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are per- 
p/sxed, but not in despair."' — 2 Cok. iv. 8. 

THE HYMN. 

" Weeping, yet joyous; weak, yet mighty still; 
Poor, yet enriching, is each humbled one; 
Woe is his lot, while sin pollutes and plagues, 
But joy unending waits him near the throne/* 



11 is 88*11. 

* 4LL THESE TIILNGS ARE AGALNST ME." — Gen. xlh. 36. 

QUCH is ever the conclusion of sense when it 
*J sits in judgment on the trials which the Holy 
One sends. Widowhood comes, because the crea- 
ture was put in the Creator's place; and it is meant 
\o win the heart to God. Poverty comes, and it 
is sent on the same errand. Long days and years 
of pining sickness are our lot, and the tried one 
mourns as if the Lord had forgotten to be gracious. 
But amid all these complaints, the very reverse of 
the believer's fears is true ; for while man is faith- 
lessly exclaiming, " All these things are against 
me," God is overruling them all, and they work 
together for good. 

Was it not good that Joseph should be taken, 
when he was to stand at the right hand of royalty, 
and save a nation from famine and woe ? Was 
it not good that Nebuchadnezzar should be be- 
reft of his reason, and wander forth a roaming 
maniac, seeing that by that he was taught that 
the Most High God reigns ? Was it not good 
that the Son of God should be laid in a grave, 
when from that grave, life and immortality were 
to spring ? Was it not well that the infant 
church should be persecuted and scattered, when 
in consequence of that, the truth was to circu- 



norK. 249 

late throughout the world? He who sees the end 
from the beginning, does all things well ; and could 
we learn, in humble confidence, to trust where we 
do not see, or to be silent when we cannot scan, 
sight as well as faith would at length be assured 
that just and true are all the ways of the King of 
saints. All that he does is done in wisdom, and 
goodness, and love. 

Now, is my soul familiar with truth in this form? 
It is written in the word that " now abideth Faith, 
Hope, and Love" — do they abide in me? — Faith 
resting on the truth of God, Hope springing from 
faith, and Love, the flbwer or the fruit of all? 
Then may the soul rejobe in the house of its pil- 
grimage. 

THE TROOF. 

" We know that all things work together for good to them that 
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." — 
Rom. viii. 28. 

THE HYMN. 

u The darkening frown of Providence 
May gloom like thunder clouds; 
But they break in showers cf mercy 
On the soul which woe enshrouds. 

" And though that soul in sorrow 
May faint beneath the rod, 
Still, hope, like spring-tide gladdening, 
Will guide it to its God." 



"I WILL BE AS THE DEW USTO ISRAEL." — IltS. xiv. 6. 

rFO convey spiritual truth into the mind, the God 
-JL of all grace has employed many iigures which 
represent spiritual things to the very eye. Do we 
need a shelter ? The Lord is our rock. Do we 
seek defence against our adversary ? The Lord is 
our shield. Do we require something to gladden 
and refresh us ? He is like rivers of water in a 
dry place. Do we sometimes sit in darkness and 
see no light ? The Lord is a uun — He shines as 
the very Sun of Righteousness. Are we disconso- 
late? He is a Friend, a Father, a Brother. Are 
we parched and lifeless ? He undertakes to be as 
the dew; and descending gently in silence, or " with- 
out observation," He spreads fertility and verdure 
where all would be sere and blighted. It is true, 
the dew may fall upon a rock, and nothing ver- 
dant will ever appear there; but not less true, that 
where He descends on ground which he has him- 
self prepared, the fruit is unto holiness — thirty, 
sixty, or an hundred-fold — the promise is fulfilled, 
" He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots 
like Lebanon." 

My soul ! Is the Lord all this to thee ? Is it 
true that he has come to gladden thee as the dew 
the green herb ? And hast thou, like the little 



TUE ALTERNATIVE. 251 

flower, drunk in that dew so as to be invigorated like 
the tree planted by the rivers of water? Then give 
Him the glory ; and O, see that the fruit be abundant, 
and more abundant still. 

But has the Lord been to thee like waters that 
fail ? Then why ? Has he broken his promise, or 
hast thou refused to believe it? Has he proved 
untrue, or art thou detected to be faithless ? Has he 
reversed the saying, " The gifts and calling of God 
are without repentance," or hast thou listened to the 
evil heart of unbelief, and not to Him who is the 
truth? If so, then return and do thy first works. 
Wait on the Lord, but wait in faith, and " They that 
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they 
shall mount up on wings like eagles ; they shall run 
and not be weary; and walk and not faint." "The 
shower upon the grass that waiteth not for man, nor 
tarrieth for the sons of men," will descend upon the 
soul. 

THE TROOP. 

14 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall gro* 
like a cedar in Lebanon." — Psalm xcii. 12. 

THE HYMN. 

44 Gentle as dew to gladdeih 

The grace of the Holy One; 
And sweet as the ro^e of Sharon, 
The blood shed to atone." 



fnjrcn its fhfoer. 

"BEFORE THEY CALL, I WILL ANSWER; AND WHILE IHEY 
ARE YET SPEAKING, I WILL HEAR." — Jsalakl&V. 24. 

WHAT vital air is to animal life, prayer is to 
spiritual existence. As well may the body of 
man attempt to live in the caves of the ocean, as his 
soul to prosper without intercourse with God. 

How blessed, then, that God is specially revealed 
as the hearer of prayer ! It is like one of his attri- 
butes, to listen to the supplications of his people ; and 
precept, promise, example, lesson — all that divine 
wisdom can devise, or divine truth guarantee, or di- 
vine mercy make good, is put upon record, to encou- 
rage us to pray. Yea, so much is the heart of God 
set on hearing our petitions, that He actually under- 
takes to hear us before we call. The first dawning 
wish is marked. The most incipient desire is noted. 
Before our words have embodied the thoughts of our 
heart, the Hearer of prayer has heard them in our 
breast. Nay, it is himself that prompts the desire, 
the wish, the prayer ; for He pours out upon us the 
Spirit of grace and supplications. He teaches us to 
pray; or, more amazing still, as the "Man of Sor- 
rows," he sets us the example of prayer — whole 
nights are spent in the privilege ! He is thereby 
braced for agony, and strengthened for the death- 
struggle with every foe of his people. 



THE FULNESS OF JOY. 253 

So must it be with thee, my soul, or thou wilt pe- 
rish from the way ! " Praying always with all prayer 
and supplication;" " Pray without ceasing; ""Ye 
people, pour ye out your hearts before him ;" " Will 
the hypocrite pray always?" — These are some por- 
tions of the Word by which the God of pardons would 
encourage or stimulate us to approach him ; and they 
are greatly blessed who have caught that spirit, and 
cannot be long from the throne. To hang upon God, 
to wait for his blessing, to enjoy communion with 
him, to have every gift sweetened by the thought 
that it is in answer to prayer — is not that heaven 
begun, a foretaste of the fulness of joy ? One of the 
strangest portions of the Word of God has reference 
to this subject — that which tells us to " Give God 
no rest:" "And give him no rest, till he establish, 
and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth ; " 
and happy is the man whom the Holy Spirit teaches 
to act on the amazing injunction ! O my soul, act 
thou upon it, and so be blessed and made a blessing. 

THE PROOF. 

" thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." 
— Psalm lxv. 2. 

THE HYMN. 

" Would the weary soul sour away from its woes? 
Be prayer its wings, and Jehovah its rest; 
Would the sinner escape from the crimson stain? 
Let the prayer of faith seek the Saviour's breast** 



istoiffur's linftnlr. 



"whosoever shall do the will of my father which 
is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, ant 
mother." — Matt. xii. 50. 

MARK how it is that we can prove ourselves 
to be the members of the household of faith. 
Not merely by a correct creed, important as that 
is. Not by a mere profession. Not by holding a 
religion which is deposited in a book and left there, 
like any of the records of the past deposited in our 
archives. But by abounding in holy deeds. By 
doing the will of Christ's God and our God, Christ's 
Father and our Father. Holiness to the Lord is 
to be our constant aim, and if we neglect it, we 
are destitute of the family likeness ; the first-born 
of many brethren does not own or recognize us. 
" This is the will of God, even our sanctification." — 
Now, is that will of God ours? Then the Shep- 
herd of Israel has taught us that we are his spirit- 
ual kindred, the " members of his body, of his flesh, 
and of his bones." But is the will of God opposed 
by us ? Is sanctification not sought, watched for, 
striven for, prayed for? Then we are none of his, 
and the day is coming when all will be unmasked 
before the universe assembled. 

Be it my endeavor, then, my prayer, my ever 
earnest aim, to grow in holiness. Let every day 
be deemed a lost one in which I do not grow some- 



THE DIVINE NATURE. 255 

what more like God's " holy child Jesus." In that 
spirit, God will make me a conqueror. He will 
not save me for my holiness — He will save me only 
for Christ. But holiness is itself a part of my salva- 
tion ; I am thereby prepared for that abode which 
nothing that defiles can enter ; and he is a partaker 
of the divine nature who is learning this holy science- 
Christ-likeness is thus the consummation of rede in p 
tion. 

That was a wondrous charge brought against the 
Jews of old, when it was said that they were "A 
comfort to Sodom" People of God as they were, 
and signalized by ten thousand mercies, they yet 
cheered and countenanced the wicked in their ways, 
till the most abandoned of the sons of men found a 
shelter for their profligacy behind the example of the 
chosen people. Is there no danger that that woful 
case may be repeated still ? O, let me watch and 
pray, lest my example cheer the godless on the way 
to ruin. 

THE PROOF. 

"We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of 
tha Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." — 2 Cor. iii. 18. 

THE HYMN. 

" Bless the Lord, my soul, for the Saviour's work, 
And not less for the hallowing One; 
If .lesus admits the lost soul to the skies, 
llis Spirit prepares for the throne." 



%\t f sp si &ht%. 

" HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME HATH EVERLASTING LIFE." 

— John vi. 47. 

THE believer does not need to wait till eternity 
begin before he enjoy his blessings. Though 
the world deems them distant, and shadowy, and 
dim, and therefore despises them all, the Christian 
knows that there is a present pardon, a present 
peace, a present joy, prepared for us, and actually 
possessed. The secret of the Lord is Avith them 
that fear him ; he shows them his covenant ; he 
lays open his mind ; and as this is the accepted 
time, it is also the time when that blessedness of a 
believer which is to endure for ever, begins to be 
enjoyed. 

The Saviour therefore says, " He that believeth 
on me hath everlasting life." It has already begun. 
A vital principle which death cannot touch, is already 
animating that frame in which " a kingdom which 
cannot be moved " is already set up. Light is not 
merely sown for the righteous to grow hereafter ; 
it is already enjoyed. He walks in it. In short, 
a present salvation, a present peace, a present re- 
pose in God — foretastes of the fulness of joy, con- 
victions that " My Redeemer liveth " — ail these 
and countless more, are the fruits of the Spirit in 
the soul ; and he is blessed of the Lord who made 



FORETASTES. 257 

the heavens and the earth, who has opened his 
heart to Him, who stands and knocks that he may 
enter now, and bring in his train these foretastes of 
the fulness of jo) r , the pleasures which are for ever- 
more. Christ is thus formed in us the hope of 
glory. He himself is the life, and neither death 
nor the grave can obscure or eclipse it. 

But, O, how strange that these things are often 
so dim, and unsubstantial even to the believer in 
Jesus ! They seem like the honeycomb when robbed 
of its sweetness, or wells without water, and clouds 
without rain, but the change is in the believer, not 
in them. The world has been decoying — sin has 
been tampered with — or the evil heart of unbelief 
consulted; and under the saddening conviction of 
that, the soul illumined from heaven, may gather 
joy from the assurance that its hopes repose on one 
who is " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." 

THE PROOF. 

" Behold the kingdom of God is within you." — Luke xvii. 21. 
"The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace, and joy in 
the Holy Ghost." — Rom. xiv. 17. 

THE HYMN. 

"Above every woe which harasses the heart 

The believer in Jesus may rise: 
He bas glory and honor immortal in store, 
And may patiently wait l'or the skies." 



tEIje f tabtnlg-lptti&eir. 

"our conversation is in heaven." — Phil. iii. 20. 

HPHERE is a family on the eve of emigration, and 
-L mark how assiduous they are in preparing. 
They have made inquiry in every available quarter, 
and* through every open channel. Their heart is 
already in the land of their adoption ; at least the 
ties which link them to the land of their fathers are 
gradually weakened. This one has been broken — 
that other is in course of being loosened. The whole 
will soon be snapt, and all will embark for what is 
deemed a better country. 

Now, we seek a heavenly country ; and should 
not our thoughts be often sent on before us ? Should 
not our affections be there ? Should we not seek to 
have our treasures transported thither, as the Spirit 
of God directs the spiritual mind ? And it is so 
with the Christian indeed, according to the mind 
of his Lord. He has his affections set on things 
above. His conversation is in heaven. It is often 
on his lips, and oftener in his heart. He loves to 
dwell on the blessedness of the New Jerusalem, the 
city of our God, and has his solemn seasons set 
apart for cherishing that joy. He remembers that 
there was a time when even his religion was too 
much set on things below, nay, it is often so still ; 
but he feels that that is his infirmity — his sin — and 



PILGRIMS ON TIIK EARTH. 259 

he now cultivates that heavenly-mindedness which 
is life and peace. He has treasures in heaven, and 
his heart is also there. lie seeks first the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness, and as the 
mountain-tops are both the first to see and the 
last to reflect the sun, so the hoary head sometimes 
reflects some rays of the coming heaven: the song 
of the dying sometimes is — " Henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of glory which fadeth not 
away." 

Let me cultivate heavenly-mindedness. Let me 
remember that I am a .pilgrim and a stranger. 0. 
let my heart be set on things above, where Christ 
sits at God's right hand. That is life and peace ; 
and when the closing scene draws on, all else will 
be seen to have been only mockery — a shadow or 
a dream. 

THE PROOF. 

" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ; 
and all the'se things shall be added unto you.' 1 — Matt. vi. 33. 

THE CONVICTION. 

*' By the blest fountain of his blood, 
My soul first found its peace; 
And' when the life is hid in God, 
That joy shall never cease. 

u The mirage mocks the pilgrim's eye; 
The moon's pale beam is chill; 
But living streams, and radiant suns 
Tlut soul with gladness fill." 



"il DOTH NOT YET APrEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE." — 1 Jok?k 

iii. 2. 

WE walk by faith. We are only in our minority 
here. We are still but in the outer court ; 
only our Forerunner, and the spirits of the just made 
perfect, have as yet entered the Holy of Holies ; 
and, till we be there, we cannot comprehend the 
nature of our future existence, or our future home : 
it is dark with excess of light. But one thing we 
know: Christ will be there — we shall be like him, 
and see him as he is ; and that is heaven enough 
to the soul which has been washed in the Redeemer's 
blood, and saved by the Redeemer's power, and 
transformed by the Redeemer's Spirit — there is 
amply enough in that to allure us to the skies. 
It will be 

"An over-payment of delight," 

for all the ills, and self-denial, or self-sacrifice of a 
believer's life, to be for ever with the Lord — for 
ever like Him, and to be led by Him to the green 
pastures on the holy mountain, where there is nothing 
to hurt or to offend. 

Arise, then, my soul, from the dust, and cease 
to grovel like the imbruted, or like those who are 
laden with thick clay. Live like an heir of God, 
a joint-heir with Christ. Never forget that the day 



THE NEW HEAVENS. 261 

of thy death is to be the day of thy coronation. P>e 
like those who know that they are the heirs of a 
kingdom which shall not be moved ; and surely you 
may joyfully endure as seeing Him who is invisible, 
when you know so well that tribulation is the path 
to glory. 

Is it not strange that man has so completely 
reversed the order of God as to put the shadow for 
the substance, time for eternity, the transient for 
the enduring, the human for the divine? We walk 
among shadows, and yet persist in deeming them 
realities ; we listen to empty echo, and trust it more 
than the truth of God; in a word, the way of wisdom 
is turned upside down. But he who sits in heaven 
proclaims, kt Behold, I make all things new," and 
the new heart looks for the new heavens and the 
new earth wherein righteousness is to dwell. Faith 
turns them into actual realities (Heb. xi. 1), and the 
soul already rejoices. 

THE PROOF. 

" Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; 
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appear- 
ing." — 2 Tim. iv. 8. 

THE HYMN. 

" It sparkles to the eye of faith, 
Yon glorious crown In heaven; 
As if two suns were shining there, 
On those God lias fbrgiveu." 



fUatotntoarb f ogress. 

"GROW IX GRACE, AND IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORE 
AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. TO HIM BE GLORY BOTH NOW 
AND FOR EVER. AMEN." — 2 Pet. Hi. 18. 

4 LL the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily 
J-±- in Jesus, and yet, how little of his glory 
do the holiest know ! We see some far-off glimpses 
of it ; we hear some echoes ; we touch the hem of 
his garment, and from time to time the Spirit-taught 
soul would stoop to unloose the latchet of his shoe. 
Yet years roll on years, while we know little of him 
but the name. We call him " God with us/' but 
feel little of his power. We reckon him " the chief 
among ten thousand,' 9 but often overlook his beauty. 
We know that he has " the fulness of joy," and yet 
we often sit in sackcloth. We droop and pine, even 
though he undertakes to keep us night and day, lest 
any one should hurt us. 

But it is his mind that we should grow in the 
knowledge of him — of his power at once to cleanse 
us from the pollution of sin, and to free us from 
its dominion ; to bring us nearer and nearer to the 
long-lost image of God ; to restore happiness to the 
disconsolate, and holiness to the sinful, and heaven 
to those who had forfeited it for ever. Instead of 
being satisfied merely with the knowledge of his 
name, we should know him moro and more from 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 263 

day to day. The power of his resurrection, his glory 
in the church, his suitableness to us, his deep sympa- 
thy, his unquenchable love to man, should all be 
more and more felt, or become more and more at- 
tractive, and that soul is prospering — it is happy, it is 
blessed indeed — which is thus growing in the know- 
ledge of our Lord and Saviour. He is our hiding- 
place — Do I know Him in that character? Our 
peace — is he felt to be so? Our all — is that the 
soul's conviction, and is it more and more felt as days 
and years sweep past ? Then the Spirit of grace is 
guiding, and grace will anon be glory. 

Nor let the soul fail to notice that our God means 
us to rejoice. Not gloom, not sackcloth, not bondage 
and terror ; but light and beauty, hope and freedom 
should signalize the child of God. " That your joy 
may be full," is again and again recorded as the 
design of God regarding his people, and that joy is 
made sure by spiritual progress. 

THE PROOF. 

"Add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to 
knowledge, temperance ; and to temperance, patience ; ?,nd tc 
patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; ani 
to brotherly kindness, charity." — 2 Pet. i. 5-7 

THE HYMN. 

" God's saints from strength unwearied go, 
Still onward unto strength; 
Until in Zion they appear, 
Before the Loi d at length." 



%\t j&tnwir JUam. 



"as we have borne the image of the earthy, we 
shall also bear the image of the heavenly." — 1 cor. 
xv. 49. 

IN the soul which grovels in the dust, and seeks a 
portion among things which perish in the using, 
it is difficult to realize the noble destiny for which 
man was at first created. The diamond buried deep 
in the earth, or precious merchandise sunk by ship- 
wreck in the ocean, does not seem more completely 
beyond our reach, than purity and dignity appear 
to have passed for ever away from that degraded 
soul. 

But he who created can create anew. He who 
saw the fall can lift us from it ; and though we have 
sunk so low, that nearly every trace of our primal 
dignity is effaced, yet he who adorned man's soul 
with beauty at first can re-adorn it ; and that is the 
process through which every child of God is passing. 
The second Adam, the Lord from heaven, appears 
among the sons of men, to retrieve the ruin wrought 
by the first. His voice addresses men in accents of 
mercy ; and do they hear when he calls ? Then the 
grand transforming process has begun. Walking 
with Jesus in newness of life, that soul will grow 
like him, and liker still, even till the image of God 
be restored, and that which is perfect be come. 
Sorrow and joy, disappointment and success, sea- 



PERFECTION. 265 

sons of sunshine and nights of weeping, will all be 
blessed by the Spirit of grace to promote that end ; 
and as the sculptor, by slow degrees, evolves a 
form of exquisite beauty from some rude block, 
the new-creating Spirit traces line upon line in the 
heart of man, till the beauty of holiness be there 
again. Now, that is the joy of the soul ; that is its 
healthy and vigorous condition. It was diseased, 
deformed, and offensive once ; it is now made like 
its God again, and joyously anticipates the time, 
or rather the eternity, when it shall see no more 
darkly as in a glass, but face to face, knowing as 
it is known, and perfect for ever in all the will 
of God. 

THE TEOOF. 

"And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living 
soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." — 1 Con 
xv. 45. 

THE HYMN. 

" The fiat which bade Adam be, 
To crown creation here below, 
Seemed vain, when Adam dared to sin, 
And plunge his race in hopeless woe. 

" But hark ! another fiat still 

Peals like an anthem from the skies — 
The second Adam stoops to earth. 
And bids us from our ruin rise. 

"Lo! beauty now where all was marred; 
See joy where all was woe before; 
See God once more enthroned by man; 
Hear ransomed crowds that God adore.' * 



u FOR I WILL, BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIG HTEOUSNESS, 
AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR INIQUITIES WILL I REMEMBER NO 

more." — Htb. viii. 12. 

W r HAT is it that makes man dread God ? It 
is sin. What is it that makes man at one 
time recoil in terror from death, and at another 
madly court it? It is sin. What is it that wrings 
tears from our eyes, and groans from our heart ; 
that often banishes hope, and leaves man a prey to 
torment before the time ? It is sin. And what is 
it that often erects the tribunal of God, with such 
blackness and darkness, before the guilty conscience?. 
It is sin. What, then, is needed to give man hope? 
What can encourage him amid the woes of earth, 
or the yet more appalling ordeal of death, and the 
judgment which follows it? It is an assurance from 
the lips of the Judge, that sin shall be for ever put 
away. 

And is it not, then, like a glimpse of the blessed- 
ness of heaven, to hear him say, " I will be merci- 
ful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their 
iniquities will I remember no more ? " The troubled 
conscience may now have peace, if it will come to 
God upon his own terms. The aching heart may 
now be soothed, if it will glorify God as the God 
of pardons in Christ. The soul which has perhaps 
felt as if there were nothing before it but the black- 



THE FOUNTAIN OF HOPE. 2G7 

ness of darkness for ever, may at length joy in God 
through Him whose blood is the fountain of hope, 
and " O that men would praise the Lord for this 
goodness, and these wonderful works to the child- 
ren of men!" The soul just awakened to solemn 
thought, and the soul which has walked, perhaps 
for half a century, in the good ways of the Lord, 
alike need a pardon. Both at the commencement 
and the close of a holy life, that is the great desi- 
deratum of the earnest spirit ; and blessed are they 
whom the Holy One has taught to understand and 
to feel, that "there is forgiveness with God that 
he may be feared" — a forgiveness free, instantane- 
ous, and complete to the chief of sinners, the mo- 
ment they believe. 

O cleave, my soul, to that, even on the eve of 
quitting the frail body, and leaving it to the worm 
and the grave. Sins are countless ; guilt is heavy ; 
but the blood of Christ cleanses from it all. A few 
more months, or days, or breaths, and through al- 
mighty grace, thou art pure as Christ is pure, for 
ever. 

THE TKOOF. 

t( If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us otu 
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." — 1 John i. 9. 

THE HYMN. 

"The crowding woes which crush the heart of man, 
And shroud his future in a ray less gloom, 
Might goad to frenzy, had not God, in love, 
Sent forth the Victim who averts our doom." 



U I AM IN A STRAIT BETWIXT TWO, HAVING A DESIRE TO 
3ERART, AND TO BE WITH CHRIST; WHICH IS FAR BETTER." — 

Phil. i. 23. 

FAITH is that grace which gives substance to 
what the world deems a shadow, and guided 
by faith, the child of God sometimes longs to be 
away to his Father's home, the house of the Lord, 
for ever. Here he groans, being burdened. He 
carries about with him a load of sin, and escape 
from it he cannot, however he may pine, and pray, 
and watch, and strive. He knows, however, that 
that which is perfect is coming. He knows, more- 
over, that the ransomed of the Lord are to be with 
him for ever, to see him as he is, to be like Him 
who makes all things new ; in short, saved alike 
from sin in itself, and sin in all its consequences. 
For that, then, the believer hungers and thirsts. 
To him at least, heaven is a reality ; its joys and 
its purities are substantial and abiding, nay, the 
only substantial and abiding things ; and it will be 
the day of his soul's coronation, when all these are 
put in his possession, to fill his heart to overflowing 
for ever. 

It is not an escape merely from the woes, the 
bondage, and the tears of earth, that a believer 
seeks ; these he will endure as long as his God 
appoints ; but his desire to depart originates in the 



OUR ETKRXAL HOME. 269 

strong craving of his regenerated soul to be for 
ever with his Lord, and be satisfied when he awakes 
in his likeness. The Alpha of his hopes becomes 
their Omega, when his foot is on the threshold of 
glory — Now my soul, is this thy crowning desire? 
In thy brighter moments at least, are thy longing 
aspirations diiected to the Lord of Glory, as thy 
chief and thine eternal good ? Then go on thy way 
rejoicing. All things are thine, for the Lord of ah 
is thine ; and when the mirage of life shall have 
melted away, the everlasting habitations will be thy 
home, and thy God thy glory. Thou art incapable 
of enjoying more than that, and the God of all grace 
has not provided less. 

THE PROOF. 

"According to his promise, we look for new heavens and a lfiH 
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." — 2 Pet. iii. 13. 

THE HYMN. 

"As travellers oft in deserts hail 
The distant mirage, and rejoice, 
Deluded man is oft decoyed 
By pleasure's soft and' syren voice. 

"And as these travellers faint the more, 
When that mirage melts all away, 
So chafed and woe- worn man must weep, 
When he and hope alike decay. 

" But see the land of Beulah rise, 

Mark rolling there the streams of life; 
O wake, my soul, and gra.«p the joys 
Which close thy weary mortal strife." 



|f!ttl] ^bfflis|[*fr. 



"AND ALL THE DAYS OF METHUSELAH WERE NINE HCHSD^JBr 
SIXTY AND NINE ; AND HE PIED." — Gen. V. 27. 

SUCH is the solemn, dirge-like close of the record 
of a life which lasted nearly a thousand years — 
such is the solemn, dirge-like close of the life oj 
every child of Adam — of Adam's universal race 
"And he died." Bat 0, who will tell what is im- 
plied in death ! To leave all the warm realities of 
earth! — to break up its countless ties, and launch 
into a vast and dark unknown ! — to be laid in the 
place of skulls and skeletons! — to say to the worm. 
Thou art my mother, and thou art* my sister ! Then 
to meet the Judge upon the great white throne ! 
to be confronted with Him, and with every sin we 
ever committed, unless it be washed away in the 
blood of the Eedeemer ! And, finally, to hear the 
terrific words, Depart ye accursed ! or the gladden 
ing ones, Enter on the joy of your Lord ! Who 
Las conceived it ? Who can picture it ? Who, in 
bis own strength, cos meet the great and terrible day 
oi the Lord ? 

But He himself prepares us for meeting it. He 
is our life — He is our Advocate — He is our right- 
eousness — He is our resurrection. Death must do 
its work on the body, but it is powerless against the 
soul. Jn Christ we live, and are alive for ever 



TIIK TRIUMPHAL SOXO. 271 

more ; and may begin, even amid the shadows of 
earth, the believer's triumphal song : " O death, 
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy vic- 
tory?" I see a land where there shall be no more 
death — where Christ liveth ; and because lie liveth, 
we shall live also. 

He died — that man who lived oblivious of God 

He died — that man who made evil his good. 

He died — that man who refused to listen to God's 
beseeching voice from the cross of his Son. 

He died — that man who was once a professed be- 
liever, but saw cause to trample under foot the blood 
of the covenant. 

He died — that simple-minded believer in Christ, 
that temple of the Holy Spirit. 

And / must die — to which class do I belong ? 

THE PROOF. 

"Jesus Christ .... hath abolished death, and t a Mi 
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." — 
2 Tim. i. 10. 

THE TRIUMPH. 

" Death, the last foe, is vanquished now, 
The Life has robbed the grave; 
And fadeless crowns are round the brc w 
Of all he came to save. 

" Ilosanna from the ransomed raise 
To David's Lord and Son; 
Immortals, haste, the Saviour pra : ,*** 
For he your glories won. * 



"the lamb, which is in the midst of the thronx 

SHALL FEED THEM, AND SHALL L tAT> THEM UNTO ~,iVINfi 
FOUNTAINS OF WATERS ; AND GOD SHALL WIFE AWAY AH 
TEARS FROM THEIR EYES." — ReV. YU. 17. 

f pHE Lamb is not me ely the dinner's hope or 
J~ earth, but moreover, the ransomed spirit's joy 
in glory — never for a moment are our thoughts 
permitted to wander from him. As the close of hi? 
pilgrimage draws near, the believer rejoices in the 
prospect of following the Lamb for ever, whither* 
soever he goes. Like the weary exile approaching 
the land of his fathers, and eager the more as hi 
draws nearer to its shores, that believer at times 
longs to depart and be with Jesus. Does sir 
harass him ? He thinks of the Lamb of C4od who 
takes it all away, and remembers that, even ir* 
regard to glory, a vision once showed a lamb as it 
had been slain. Or does the Believer, as he draw;? 
nearer to the close of his earthly career, anticipate 
deliverance from the woes of earth ? It is because 
the Lamb in the midst of the throne is to welcome 
him there. In a word, glory just consists in fol 
lowing the Lamb of God, and being for ever with 
him ; delighting in the blessings which he pur- 
chased, and which, as his purchase, it is the heaven 
of the redeemed to enjoy. 

Now, is my soul preparing for that glory? Is 



THE LAM*. 273 

there no mistake, no assumption, no danger of self- 
deception? Nothing that defiles can enter tnere. 
Have I, then, washed my robes, and made thera 
pure in (he blood of the Lamb ? There is no woe 
beyond the grave to those who, on this side, behold 
the Lamb. Have I, then, seen him, and rejoiced? 
Lamb though he be, he is mighty to save; and 
none but him can deliver. Is it there, then, that 
I repose? In a word, is the heaven for which I 
live, the heaven of the Lamb of God, where lie 
will lead, and guide, and bless, world without end? 
Then those whom I love may drop into the grave, 
and leave me only tears in their stead — those in 
whom I confide may prove false — those for whom 
I pray and watch may pierce me through with 
many sorrows; but just the more should the soul 
rejoice in the Lamb of God. In the fulness of 
time, he will " wipe away all tears from all eyes." 

THE PROOF. 

" These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he 
froeth. Tii£?e were redeemed from among men, being the Curat 
Omits unto God and to the Lamb." — Rkv. xiv. 4. 

TIIK HYMN. 

" Worthy the Lamb that died, they cry, 
To be exalted thus; 
Worthy the Lamb, let us reply, 
For lie was slain for us. 

"To him be power divine ascribed, 
And endless blessings paid; 
Salvation, glory, joy, remain 
For ever on his head ! " 



'%% 



§tntn, 

"TFKM AL&O WHICH SLEEP SJS JESUS WILL i*OD URIlfft WJlfl 

KIM." — 1 Thess. iv. 14. 

PfTHIS is the conclusion of the whole matter 
JL Deatn is abolished ; the body is raised ; and 
with soul and body re-united, we are to be for 
ever with *Jhe Lord. The almighty power which 
brought Jesus from the dead is to bring u» with 
him. Dea'.h is robbed of its terrors by the Lord 
of life, and now seems only a sleep ; reposing in 
Jesus, we are to rise with him who is the first 
fruits from the dead. Our very dust is part of his 
redeemed property. He died to rescue it from the 
pollution of sin, and the power of the grave; and 
thus to be for ever with the Lord, is now the des- 
tiny of the believer, in soul and in body. 

May we not, then, already begin to exult? Is 
not the cope-stone put upon the pian ot redemp- 
tion? Is not grace proved to be the bud of glory r 
Is not the soul just passing from woe to blessed* 
ness ? Is not Christ indeed the life ? Are not all 
the sufferings «f earth proved to be what tyod says 
they are — not worthy to be compared with tne 
glory which is to be revealed? Prepare, my- soul, 
for all that glory. Faith will soon be sight. Ho Vl 
ness will soon supersede all pollution, and what you 
now see darkly as in a glass, will sc#on be sen? 



THE CONSUMMATION. 275 

face to face. Christ will soon be absolutely all in 
all, and thou shalt soon be absolutely and for ever 
like him. That is heaven — the consummation of 
the Father's love, of the Redeemer's agony, and 
the Spirit's work. 

To be with Christ — Behold the copestone of a 
believer's desire, the terminating point of all his 
aspirations ! That implies entire and eternal free- 
dom from sin, alike in its condemning, its ensla- 
ving, and polluting power. In the resurrection- 
r3tate, the ransomed soul is perfectly like the Holy, 
Harmless, Sinless One. Whether its life on earth 
has been like that of the lowland stream, 

" Dimpling along in silent majesty," 
or, likfs the mountain torrent, 

" Tearing its way amid a thousand crags," 

the end is the same — to be through grace fof 
ever with the Lord, and for ever like Him. 

THE PROOF. 

41 But rotv is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first 
fruits of them that slept."— 1 Cok. xv. 20. 

THE HYMN. 

"Hosai>:ia! the sepulchre hears the loud peal; 
Lo! the blood-ransomed millions arise; 
And oothed in the robes which the Kansoraer wove, 
With him they are scaling the skies." 



